Pennington County Seeing Foreclosures Going Uphill

South Dakota is still relatively healthy as compared to other regions but Pennington County is seeing foreclosures rapidly going uphill. It seems that by September the numbers in these nine months will out pace the number of the full 12 months of the previous year. In 2007 there were 100 foreclosure postings but already 75 have been noted in 2008. Some of the units had a price tag of about $100,000. Another 40 were about to enter the zone but last minute agreements between the contending parties cancelled the schedule. A decade ago the annual average was 28 foreclosures.

One of the worst affected spots is Neighborhood Housing of Black Hills. It has been running since the last 10 years and had to deal with about only five to six foreclosures. But since 2007 Neighborhood Housing has witnessed 25 houses in need of help from the threat of foreclosure. Michelle Eddy of the organization commented that some are already in foreclosure while the majority is at grave risk.

Families in South Dakota struggling to meet the challenge of rising gas and fuel prices are in danger of failing to pay their mortgage dues. Terry Mills of Consumer Credit Counseling of Black Hills expressed serious concerns. The number of help seekers has multiplied recently. These folks are not in foreclosure or even lagging behind but they are apprehensive of the future. Mills explained that unlike places like Las Vegas they do not have the exact statistics but it is obvious that things are bad. Gas and food are putting pressure on housing; so too are increasing taxes. Thus the main issue boils down to rising foreclosures.

In the past two years Pennington County has seen sharp jumps in foreclosure numbers. It has been steadily rising – 2003 (61), 2004 (80), 2005 (71), 2006 (77) and till June 2008 there have been 75 foreclosures. However the state is still running well below the national average.

The end of the first quarter of 2008 saw 1.21% of the house loans being foreclosed. It was a modest increase from the previous quarter comments Mortgage Bankers Association. The national foreclosure rate is 2.47%. During the same three months, 2.89% of the house loans in South Dakota were lagging behind. It too was a modest decrease. The delinquency rate across the country is 6.35%. Even less number of first time buyers have gone into foreclosure – 1%.

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