Florida is ‘ground zero’ in drama
Foreclosures in Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties have doubled in the last year, and some experts think they will likely double again before the region and nation sort out the current mortgage morass.
The rate of foreclosure in Florida was double the national average in February, according to data provided to the Herald-Tribune by RealtyTrac, a California-based online marketer of foreclosed property.
The total foreclosures in process — 2,221 this year, compared with 1,106 at this time in 2006 — is the clearest symptom to date of Southwest Florida’s painful hangover from the bubbly days of a heady housing market.
The phenomenon is being driven by a number of factors, but most prominently in this region by investors who got in over their heads during the boom of 2004-05, by first-time home buyers who likely did not have the financial wherewithal or credit to make a home purchase, and by people caught in the collapse of some area builders.