Foreclosed Conclusions

With the news of new programs for homeowners at the cusp of foreclosure coming to a lender near you, I took a look at the state of foreclosure in Iowa and elsewhere. With 303,419 home foreclosure filed as of December, 2008, it is good that this aid has come.

First the good news, Iowans are doing much better than most.

Iowa, which is 23rd in total population, has the 14th lowest rate of foreclosure filings. This is particularly good in the context that we have the 10th highest homeownership rate. We slip a little when the number of foreclosure filings are compared to the total number of homeowners, here we fall to 17th among all states and the District of Columbia.

If you are interested in knowing who the top and bottom five states are:

Highest Numbers of Foreclosure Filings
California: 89,449
Florida: 50,808
Arizona: 15,962
Nevada: 15,039
Michigan: 13,563

Lowest Numbers of Foreclosure Filings
Vermont: 16
Montana: 38
North Dakota: 44
South Dakota: 45
Nebraska: 46

Lowest % of Filings Per Homeowner:
Vermont
Nebraska
West Virginia
Montana
Mississippi

Highest % of Filings Per Homeowner:
Nevada
California
Florida
Arizona
Michigan

(Sources: Realty Trac December 2008, BLS estimate of state populations for 2008, Homeownership Rate by state 2007, U.S. Census Bureau. Web: www.census.gov).