2009 Foreclosure Numbers for Volusia County
December was not a good month for folks trying to avoid foreclosure in Volusia County.
In Volusia and Flagler Counties, a combined 2,376 properties received default notices, were in foreclosure auctions or repossessed by lenders in December. That's the highest monthly total in 2009 and a 33 percent increase from the 1,787 filings in December 2008, according to Wednesday's U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released by the California firm RealtyTrac.
Florida's and the nation's foreclosure activity in December also increased, but not nearly as much.
"The numbers are just staggering," said Larry Glinzman, spokesman for Community Legal Services of Mid Florida, which helps low-income families with housing counseling and foreclosures. "It's huge unemployment that is driving the numbers now. We are seeing people with both foreclosure packages and struggling to get their unemployment benefits because of the back up, or who are running out of benefits because they have been out of work so long."
In Volusia County, there were 2,024 properties that received a foreclosure filing in December. It's the first time in 2009 that the total surpassed 2,000 and is up more than 46 percent from a year ago. The county ranked eighth in the state with one home in 122 receiving a notice in December. Foreclosure activity increased each month through the year in year-to-year comparisons and rose for the last four consecutive months from the previous month. Volusia filings rose almost 50 percent to 13,125 from 8,794. Filings for the state rose 34 percent and 21 percent for the nation between 2008 and 2009.
The federal government has put in place some measures to help borrowers in trouble. Contact me for details - I'm a Certified Distressed Property Expert.
Sherry Armstrong, Realtor
386-679-3191
yourkeytothebeach@gmail.com
(resource: News-JournalOnline)