As we've all followed the unfolding of the nationwide financial "meltdown," we've learned that Colorado was one of the earliest bellwether areas for home foreclosures. Three to four years ago, lenders and housing officials in this state realized with alarm that the rate of delinquent home loans was going to rise to historic proportions.
Their suspicion was all too true: in 2005, 1 in 145 homeowners lost their homes to foreclosure. Two years later, it had worsened to 1 in 75 and last year (2008), it was 1 in 89 households.
While the pace of the increase has begun to slow, new loan defaults continue, especially as more people lose their jobs. The first wave of foreclosures may have included a lot of speculators and people with loans they couldn't sustain, but the bulk of those being affected now are longtime homeowners who have been caught by the wave of economic downturn. You can see it happening in all kinds of neighborhoods, rich and poor, established and new.
This week on "Colorado State of Mind," we'll talk with some of the people who are attempting to help stabilize the situation – to guide homeowners through the crisis and stop neighborhoods from losing overall value. We'll also get the insight of
Denver Business Journal reporter Renee McGaw, who covers financial institutions.
Are you in an area where the high rate of foreclosures has changed the neighborhood? Do you know someone who has been through the process or may be facing it? Share your stories here, and join us this Friday night at 7:30 for CSOM.
-Cynthia Hessin, Rocky Mountain PBS
Watch Colorado State of Mind
Complete episodes online.
Watch now.
