From a reader:
The power of the media…I asked 4 people randomly today what they thought the foreclosure rate was…I got …15% 10% and 20%…when in actuality 1in 538 homes in the US are in foreclosure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Update: Oh no. I hope this doesn’t lead to a ginormous reader-driven data fight. Anyway, from a reader:
Not sure where your writer got his number. Maybe if he adds up all houses-
rented, owned, vacant- regardless of mortgage status, but even then I’m not
sure. The official foreclosure rate on mortgages as reported by the Mortgage
Bankers Association in Q4 of 2007 was 2.04%. That’s a little more than one in
50, not one in 538. It’s also the highest foreclosure rate ever recorded by
MBA, data that dates back to Q1 of 1979. Among subprime ARMs the foreclosure
rate is over 8 percent.
Even if it’s not 15% (which it isn’t), the foreclosure rate really, really sucks
right now.
– R (I work with this data pretty closely so I’d rather not disclose my name)