In the spirit of Thanksgiving

Since Thanksgiving is next week, I’ve been thinking about what I have to be thankful for over the past couple days. A recent report by the NC Justice Center brought to light the fact that I have one more thing to be thankful for, my home. According to their numbers, there are thousands more North Carolinians who are filing for foreclosure than there were in 2009.

This month, North Carolina is projected to break last year’s foreclosure filing record. The North Carolina Justice Center reports that North Carolina is on the path to have 70,476 foreclosures this year. This number far outshadows the total number of foreclosures that happened in 2009, which were 63,286. NC is projected to break last year’s total number of foreclosures next week, on November 23rd.

The counties with the highest amount of foreclosure filings are Mecklenburg, Wake, Guilford, and Forsyth. (See statistics listed below.)

In order to stop this record number of home foreclosures we need all levels of government to make investments in quality affordable housing, especially rental units. Investments in affordable housing will not only give more families real options for safe housing, but also will stimulate local economies by creating new construction jobs.

Next year I hope we can be grateful that this unfortunate housing trend has been reversed and we see a growing number of families in safe, healthy, and affordable homes.

TOP 10 COUNTIES BY TOTAL PROJECTED FORECLOSURE FILINGS FOR 2010
Mecklenburg (11,713)
Wake (5,800)
Guilford (4,360)
Forsyth (2,532)
Union (2,132)
New Hanover (1,979)
Durham (1,900)
Gaston (1,828)
Brunswick (1,801)
Cumberland (1,698)

TOP 10 COUNTIES BY PER CAPITA PROJECTED FORECLOSURE FILINGS FOR 2010
Dare (2.76 percent of individuals)
Brunswick (1.63)
Currituck (1.45)
Mecklenburg (1.29)
Clay (1.16)
Cherokee (1.13)
Union (1.06)
Pender (1.05)
New Hanover (1.01)
Jackson (.97)

For a link to the full report click here