More ammunition for the real estate market bears: Property Shark reports that the number of people in New York City that missed more than three months of mortgage payments rose 20% in the the third quarter of 2006 compared to 2005. In all, 1,468 homeowners missed mortgage payments from July to September, putting them in what’s known as pre-foreclosure. Brooklyn had the distinction of having the four worst nabes: Canarsie and Flatbush each had 37 preforeclosures while Bedford-Stuyvesant had 32 and East New York 31. It’s a warning sign, but it’s not yet a serious problem in terms of the market, said John McIlwain, a senior fellow for housing at the Urban Land Institute, a nonprofit planning and research group in Washington. In more positive news, the number of actual foreclosures in the city dropped from 545 to 425 over the same time frame. Foreclosure in New York can take up to two years, versus about seven months in a place like California. Gotta love the New York legal system.
Missed Mortgage Payments Rise 20% in Third Quarter [NY Times]
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