There's a dramatic rise in foreclosure filings in Michigan, according to new data.
But housing-industry experts are downplaying the increase.
According to Attom, a foreclosure industry tracking company says foreclosure filings jumped 65% in Michigan during the third quarter of the year, that's compared to the second quarter of 2021. Compared with the third quarter of 2020, filings were up 143%. Both percentages were about twice the national increase.
The increase followed the end of a federal moratorium on foreclosure in July.
Rick Sharga is with Realty Trac, which follows the housing industry. He insists the increases are not as large as they may appear.
Sharga says the foreclosure rate is still below what was happening in 2019, before the start of pandemic.
“We really don’t see a scenario right now where we are looking at a huge, huge tidal wave of foreclosure activity like we saw back in 2008,” says Sharga.
During the recession that started in 2008, the U.S. saw a dramatic increase in home foreclosures.
Frank Nothaft is the chief economist with CoreLogic, which monitors home loan performance. He says economic conditions now are very different than in 2008. Nothaft says unemployment rates are low and home sale prices are rising.
Nothaft concedes some homeowners who have been shielded from foreclosure by federal programs during the pandemic will soon face foreclosure or distressed sales of their property.
“However, we think that will probably be more like a blip rather than a tidal wave of foreclosures like what we saw in 2008 and 2009,” says Nothaft.
RealtyTrac’s Rick Sharga expects it will take until the second half of next year before foreclosure filings will settle into their normal pattern.
Copyright 2021 Michigan Radio
