Metro Atlanta Foreclosures Up 29% in 2007 and Trend Does Not Look Good

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that foreclosures in the 13 county metro Atlanta area are up 29% in 2007 as compared to 2006. There were 58,076 foreclosures in metro Atlanta, which amounts to over 4,800 per month. By contrast, in 2001, the metro Atlanta area saw just over 20,000 foreclosures.

Georgia Tech economist Dan Immergluck comments that this foreclosure trend is not likely to change soon. Almost 8% of mortgages in the State of Georgia are delinquent by at least 30 days and almost 20% of sub-prime mortgages statewide are delinquent.

Further, according to a local foreclosure monitoring service, many of the adjustable rate loans in the metro Atlanta area have not adjusted up recently, which does not bode well for the future.