Multifamily Foreclosures Show Year-Over-Year Increase

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorIrvine, Calif.–The number of multifamily foreclosures more than doubled in July and August this year compared to July and August of 2007, according RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for August 2008. Last July there were 4,501 multifamily foreclosures and this year there were 9,061 while last August there were 4,089 and this August saw 8,134 multifamily foreclosures.While the nation’s foreclosure activity rose almost 12 percent from the previous month and 27 percent from the same month in 2007 and one in every 416 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing during August this year, the number of multifamily foreclosures remained comparatively low.“While the numbers aren’t terribly large, they do show a pretty significant increase year-over-year,” Rick Sharga, senior vice president of RealtyTrac Inc., tells MHN.Sharga adds that the nation’s economy is dependent on the real estate market to bottom out and turn the corner before any true healing from the mortgage crisis (which affects the multifamily sector as well) can begin in earnest.“The federal government is attempting to legislate the economy back to health. However, with the labor market continuing to shed jobs, more citizens filing for bankruptcy protection, and the foreclosure floodgates wide open, legislation alone is not enough. Investors and ordinary citizens need to feel confident of their own financial stability. Until that confidence returns to the marketplace, foreclosures will continue to delay any real economic recovery,” Sharga explains.