Foreclosure in the Sand [States]
I've written previously about how the high rate of foreclosures in California, Florida, Arizona (Phoenix) and Nevada (Las Vegas). The FDIC has issued a new report, The 2009 Economic Landscape: How the Recession is Unfolding across Four U.S. Regions.
These four states have been referred to as the Sand States. With 24.6% of all mortgages in the US, the Sand States account for a disproportionately high 42.5% of foreclosure activity.
“The historic boom and subsequent decline in the nation’s housing market has been a defining feature of the current recession. The housing downturn has been most acute in four states—Arizona, California, Florida, and Nevada— that had experienced some of the highest rates of home price appreciation in the first half of the decade. While these states are not all contiguously located, their similar housing cycles and abundance of either beaches or deserts have led some analysts to label them ‘Sand States’.”
And while the Charleston real estate market sadly does have a growing number of foreclosures, let's hope that our beautiful beaches don't have us get lumped in with the Sand States.
Hat tip to Jonathan Miller, Matrix.