Valley Foreclosures May Double Soon
POSTED: 11:34 am MST October 1,
2008
UPDATED: 6:33 pm MST October 1,
2008
PHOENIX -- The Valley may see a two-fold increase in the number of foreclosed homes within the next 90 days.Currently, 20,812 Maricopa County homes are vacant and owned by the bank, and another 26,935 homes are on the brink of foreclosure, according to statistics from NetValueCentral.Five ZIP codes in the west Valley -- 85037, 85033, 85326, 85379 and 84041 -- were especially hard hit.James Wright lives in one of those ZIP codes. Two years ago, when the Wrights first moved into the neighborhood in the west valley, the wide streets were lined with big stucco homes, and children often played in a nearby park."(The neighborhood) was hard to get into," Wright said. "We thought we were lucky to get the house at the time."Nevertheless, Wright said he noticed his neighbors disappearing, and foreclosure notices were posted in the windows."They couldn't make the payments," Wright said. "It was a lot of people that moved in that couldn't make the payments."In Wright's ZIP code alone, 792 homes are on the verge of foreclosure.NetValueCentral's David Bignoli tracks foreclosures and pending foreclosures across the country using a database. He said three factors connect many of the homes on the long list of foreclosures: loans with no money down, unrealistic resale expectations and adjustable-rate mortgages.
"The ugly truth is too many of these people bought the property with no investment in it," Bignoli said. "I've been through a few of the busts here, but I haven't seen anything like this."Most neighborhoods will not rebound quickly, either, according to Bignoli."Economists are saying it's going to take two, three, four years before the market gets back to normal," he said.As for Wright, he said he is trying to keep his home from joining the multitude of foreclosed properties."We're struggling," he said. "My wife still works. I'm retired, but she's still working, and it takes all of our money."
| Top Pending Foreclosure ZIP Codes In Maricopa County | |
|---|---|
| ZIP Code | Number Of Foreclosures |
| 85037 | 792 |
| 85033 | 723 |
| 85326 | 712 |
| 85379 | 659 |
| 84041 | 611 |
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