State foreclosures soar to a record
Foreclosure filings in Wisconsin continued at record levels in July.
New figures from ForeclosuresWI.com released Monday show close to 14,300 foreclosure filings recorded in the first seven months of 2008, a 31 percent increase over the first seven months of 2007.
"Wisconsin foreclosures have been building up to the current levels for the past three years," said Robert Jensen, president of ForeclosuresWI.com.
He said foreclosures averaged 11,687 a year in Wisconsin from 2003 to 2005 and rose to 16,473 in 2006 and 20,995 in 2007.
At the current level of filings, more than 25,000 foreclosures are expected to be filed in the state this year.
"We expect foreclosures to remain at escalated levels through 2008, with some experts not predicting a housing market recovery until at least 2010," Jensen said.
Milwaukee County continues to post the most foreclosure filings in the state, with 3,565 foreclosures filed in 2008 through July, a 28 percent increase over 2007.
In Dane County, 710 foreclosures have been filed so far this year, 54 percent more than the first seven months of 2007.
Other south central Wisconsin counties have also shown increases, including an 89 percent increase in Sauk County (198 filings this year through July compared to 105 in 2007), a 71 percent increase in Jefferson County (185 this year, 108 last year), a 43 percent increase in Columbia County (183 this year, 128 last year), a 36 percent increase in Green County (91 this year, 67 last year), a 36 percent increase in Dodge County (236 this year, 174 last year) and a 27 percent increase in Rock County (501 this year, 395 last year).
88 percent of Wisconsin's 72 counties have had more foreclosure filings through July than the same period last year, eight percent had fewer filings, and four percent had the same.
Statewide, there were 1,762 foreclosure filings in July, close to 77 filings each business day.
Jensen said the mortgage crisis is feeding the foreclosure filing surge.
"Consistent with the record number of mortgage defaults nationwide, a mix of adjustable rate mortgage resets, a soft housing market and the collapse of the subprime mortgage market has forced many more homeowners into foreclosure," he said.
