Foreclosures On The Rise In Arizona...

Foreclosures on rise in Arizona, Valley, from the Phoenix Business Journal, reports that home foreclosures are on the rise in Arizona as the housing market continues to cool down and as interest rates rise. Foreclosures.com, a No. Cal.- based real estate investment advisory firm, reported that more than 8,000 properties went into foreclosure in Arizona during the first six months of the year. Maricopa County accounted for the bulk of the foreclosure activity with 5,215 foreclosure notices during the first six months of this year."Too many people have been using their homes as ATM machines to manage consumer debt. Now that interest rates are coming back up to normal levels, the refinance window is closed to these people and they are being squeezed by rising home payments," said Alexis McGee, Foreclosures.com president. McGee also said homes prices will not crash like they did in the early 1990's. "Back then, overbuilding by developers led to excess inventory and what we call competitive liquidation of unsold new homes. This time, the inventory just isn't there," she said. For more, go to www.foreclosures.com.



http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2006/07/17/daily19.html?t=printable