In the real world, things are not getting better. Our hope when we started this project was that by the fall of 2009 the rate of foreclosures would be slowing. We thought that especially in some of the worst hit areas such as Florida we might see the first signs of an improvement. But sadly as this report shows – that is not the case.

As seen in the Florida Times Union at http://jacksonville.com/business/2009-07-11/story/ponte_vedra_foreclosures_fail_to_slow_despite_fees

PONTE VEDRA BEACH- Despite an increase in mortgage foreclosure filing fees, foreclosures haven’t slowed down in Ponte Vedra Beach or the surrounding area, officials said. This year, Florida Legislature raised the foreclosure fees, and other court fees, to cover shortfalls in the state court budget and compensate for the deluge of foreclosures moving through the court system. But it hasn’t deterred the number of foreclosures, at least not in St. Johns County.

“We thought we’d see a big slow down in foreclosures because of it but we haven’t,” said St. Johns County Clerk of Courts Cheryl Strickland. “They have not slowed down.”

The number of foreclosures in St. Johns County has more than quadrupled since 2006, from 473 – the average number before the housing crisis – to 2,145 in 2008, Strickland said.

“These numbers are alarming,” she said. “A lot of these are second homes. One in 10 are primary homes.”

Strickland couldn’t identify how many homes in Ponte Vedra Beach were in foreclosure. But according to realtytrac.com, an online foreclosure data collection site, 100 Ponte Vedra Beach homes were in foreclosure in 2008 compared to 41 in 2007, said Daren Blomquist, the company’s marketing communications manager.

From January to May that number has more than doubled to 228, he said.

“We just don’t see any let down in the foreclosures numbers,” he said. “We think there’s still a lot of problem loans in those areas that are filtering through the foreclosure process. We expect to see the foreclosure problem continue at least until the end of the year.”

Florida led the nation with 10 percent of mortgages in foreclosure through the first three months of 2009, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Lenders have foreclosed on 257,811 homes from January to May. In 2008, 168,883 homes were affected and in 2007, 81,178 homes were foreclosed.

Since the online site began tracking foreclosures in 1996, the past three months numbers have averaged the highest monthly totals, Blomquist said.

“It’s still on its way up,” he said. “[It's] interesting to hear that [it] has not been slowed down at all. We’re not seeing any relief in places that are the hardest hit in many parts of southern Florida.”