There is a worrying new trend foreshadowing a housing market crash.
Foreclosures — when a bank or lender takes back a home after missed mortgage payments — are once again on the rise in the US.
New data from ATTOM shows more homeowners falling behind on their mortgages amid job losses and soaring living costs.
In October alone, there were 36,766 foreclosure filings — the first step in the process, when a lender warns a borrower they’re in default. That’s up three percent from September and 19 percent from a year ago.
‘Foreclosure activity continued its steady upward trend in October — the eighth straight month of year-over-year increases,’ said ATTOM CEO Rob Barber.
The rise is stirring uncomfortable memories of 2008, when a wave of foreclosures triggered the worst housing crash in modern US history.
Back then, millions of Americans had adjustable-rate subprime mortgages that borrowers could not afford to pay. The fallout wiped out trillions in household wealth and pushed major banks to the brink, tipping the global economy into recession.
Today’s homeowners have safer loans, but experts warn that high borrowing costs, soaring insurance premiums, and dwindling savings could again push struggling families into default.
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/real-estate/article-15285273/foreclosures-october-financial-crash.html