According to a prominent real estate data group, foreclosure rates are spiking significantly nationwide. Specifically, the number of foreclosure cases filed in May – which total 35,196 cases nationwide in a single month – is up 7% from the previous month and a staggering 14% from May of the previous year. Given that the job market remains strong, it is understandable that many people are both puzzled and concerned about the risk of foreclosure that is currently plaguing too many Americans.
What Is Going On?
Unlike many other periods of heightened foreclosure activity, the primary economic force driving unfavorable foreclosure rates is not joblessness. Instead, the cost of living in both urban and rural areas – as well as wages that are not keeping pace with inflation – are of the utmost concern to economists and homeowners alike. Wages had been rising prior to 2020 but that trend abruptly halted, even as the costs for both goods and services started rising at disturbing rates.
The math of this reality can be boiled down to the challenge that individuals and families must devote a greater percentage of their income to covering the basics – including mortgage payments – as their income levels have not kept pace with the increased rates of what those basics now cost. When individuals and families can no longer make ends meet, they may miss mortgage payments and risk foreclosure as a result.
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