Turning on the television and tuning into a national news broadcast nowadays can be depressing with the doom and gloom reports on the economy. We have become accustomed to seeing news headlines about foreclosures and the alarming rate at which they are occurring across the country. There is no ignoring the issue, we are in tough economic times and everyone has an opinion about the real estate market. For example, there are those who speculate that it will get worse and others suggest we have already hit the bottom. But what about here in New Hampshire, how bad (or good) is it?
Perhaps to answer that question, it helps to put some statistics into perspective. RealtyTrac, a research firm based in Irvine, CA, that tracks foreclosure properties, has announced that Nevada has claimed the country’s highest foreclosure rate for the 22nd consecutive month, in October 2008. How does the nation’s highest foreclosure rate compute in terms of numbers? It means that 1 in every 74 housing units in Nevada received a foreclosure filing notice during October.
Where else in our nation are foreclosures rampant? Arizona secured the number two spot and Florida received the dubious honor of the nation’s third highest foreclosure rate in October 2008, with 1 in every 157 housing units going into default. Rounding out the top ten list are California, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, New Jersey, Illinois, and Ohio.
How about the Granite State? New Hampshire ranks 24th on the list of foreclosures for October 2008. This equates to 1 in every 854 housing units being subject to default. According to RealtyTrac and to Demographic Advisor to the New Hampshire Association of Realtors, Peter Francese, this means less than 1 percent of homes in New Hampshire are in foreclosure. Things may not be perfect here, or anywhere for that matter, but putting things into perspective can make a difference on our outlook. For this reason, it is important to keep in mind that when the national news headlines are screaming the foreclosure statistics in Nevada, those figures are six times the national average. National news is not local news and New Hampshire is not Nevada.
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