Brunswick County Centre Of Foreclosure Fury

September 3rd, 2008

Brunswick County is the centre of foreclosure fury and behind each one there is a sad personal story to tell.

On Donna Reisen’s 40th birthday her lender, Wells Fargo is ready to auction her house in the court premises of Brunswick County. There is nothing much to celebrate for Donna on that day. It will begin the mark of a new chapter in her life, which she will start anew with her eight-year-old son Brandon. It will be sans the three bed roomed house that she had bought six years ago for $79,000. The money had come after working on three jobs. Her asthmatic mother lives nearby but cannot accommodate the family with three dogs that sleep with Brandon. Most probably the dogs in any case will have to be given to a shelter for adoption.

This is just one story – there are many as the foreclosure numbers pile up. The intensity of its attack is acute in Brunswick County. Till 31st July there have been 542 foreclosure postings – double that of the figures of 2007 during the first seven months. Already the number is more than the total number of any one-year during the past decade. The percentage of increases in Gates, Tyrrell and Graham counties having less population was proportionately higher in comparison to the previous year. Relatively the 55% jump in Pender and New Hanover counties appear modest. According to Melanie H. Clark of Brunswick Superior Court things got hot since the autumn of 2007. Since then the pressure is on without a pause.

There are many causes behind this foreclosure surge – lax lending practices, sub-prime mortgages and faltering economy especially among the beach communities. The investors relied on the retired persons and fun loving stream of vacationers to continue to pump money into demand for housing. During bad days one could sell off the house and get out of a financial fix. But things have become extremely difficult in a cool real estate market.

As foreclosure numbers increase the sale figures drop. In Wilmington sales dropped by 44% in July this year. The average drop of real estate prices fell by 8% between two periods according to Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors. In July 195 houses were sold - it being half the numbers sold in July 2005. The average price of a house was $234,000 marking a drop of 29% from what it was three years ago in July.