May 26, 2006

Cape leads foreclosure surge in state
By DAVID KIBBE
TIMES BOSTON BUREAU
BOSTON - Home foreclosure filings in Massachusetts rose 34 percent over the past year, with Barnstable County recording the highest increase in the state, according to a report by ForeclosuresMass.

The report found Dennis had the biggest increase of any town, jumping from 23 to 52 home foreclosures, or 126 percent over the prior 12-month period. Sandwich had the fourth-highest increase in the state, with home foreclosures rising from 28 to 52, or 86 percent.

ForeclosuresMass, which tracks filings in Land Court, measured foreclosure filings between May 1, 2005, and April 30, 2006, and compared the filings to the previous 12-month period.

Barnstable County led the state in foreclosures, with a spike from 363 to 583, or 60 percent. Bristol County had the second-highest increase, with foreclosures up from 779 to 1,174, or 50 percent. Suffolk County, which includes Boston, was third, up from 922 to 1,335, or 44 percent.

Statewide, the numbers rose from 9,505 to 12,740, or 34 percent.

A foreclosure filing is the legal process in which banks can seize homes to secure mortgages. Often, homeowners find a way to pay back the debt, work out a payment plan to keep their home, or sell it to pay off the mortgage holder.

''It is quite evident that Massachusetts homeowners are feeling the pressures of living in one of the nation's most costly real estate markets,'' said Jeremy Shapiro, president and co-founder of Framingham-based ForeclosuresMass, which supplies data to the mortgage and real estate industries. ''Not only are home prices, and consequently mortgage sizes, well above the national average, each interest rate increase and jump in the cost of energy can spell disaster for property owners.''

In a statement that accompanied the release of the report, Shapiro said the number of foreclosure filings ''is much more widespread'' than a phenomenon that can be explained solely by predatory lending practices. And he warned the quickening pace of foreclosures would likely get worse.

''As adjustable-rate, interest-only and other specialty loans mature in today's flat real estate market, many homeowners can no longer leverage a property's equity as a quick fix,'' Shapiro said.

Foreclosure experts said the easy availability of loans along with high real estate and living costs were creating a downward spiral for homeowners.

The economic pressures are clearly taking their toll on the Cape, experts said.

Rick Presbrey, executive director of the Housing Assistance Corp., which helps first-time home buyers on Cape Cod, does not think the foreclosures were hitting vacation homes, because they usually can be sold if an owner runs into financial trouble.

Instead, he believes homeowners who took out low-interest or adjustable-rate mortgages have been squeezed as interest rates and living expenses have lurched upward. Increasing the financial burden, many homeowners have been taking home equity loans, ''using their house as a checking account,'' Presbrey said.

''There is a dramatic increase in the

cost of living in all areas, utility costs, everything's gone up,'' he said. ''Incomes haven't been going up, and that's a problem.''



Presbrey said the mounting number of Cape foreclosures will likely get worse, as adjustable-rate mortgages with low interest rates for five years begin to expire. ''I think that will be coming,'' he said.

Eric Berman of the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency said clients the agency assists with affordable housing have a low foreclosure rate. But he said it's no secret what's happening on the Cape and in the wider marketplace.

''People are over-leveraging because the housing market is so high,'' he said.

David Kibbe can be reached at dkottaway@aol.com.

(Published: May 26, 2006)

I just read this in the paper !
When I was down last weekend , my bud told me nothing is moving and ton's 4-sale... It's all a cycle


I like the part were it states every thing is going up but your pay check :whackin:
VB

gonna bea LARGE problem for many... soon.
I hear this every day from locals, and the towns wonder why we are the highest age average in the nation.. young working people cannot stay here, biggest exodus is the 18-30 year olds, they hardly show on the chsrt anymore. Now it's gonna be their parents getting the hi-ho.
I tell all my older rich customers that moan and groan about the brazillians, jamacains, russians... get used to it, that's all yer going to have in any service trade.. real soon.
Taxes way up, Electric way,way up, Insurance thru the roof, cable way up, health care.. fergetaboutit.. wages.. stuck at about the same as 15-20 years ago.. yeah.. that works.. for the rich.

is soooo clueless about this area's needs and the representatives we keep electing here ->are not getting the job done.... in fact , they are doing things that are completely opposite of what the majority of the people want....so it's time for change...and yes, the wage is as much of a joke...as it could possibly be.... what do...they.... think that young people just want to earn the money it takes them to go back and forth to work in GAS with nothing to show for their labor. :hs:

That,s exactly what happens when ya give people with no money & no saving habits =a 100% mortgage === if they fall two months behind they will never catch up :::: being the market is slow they can,t sell it & because they have no money invested ======================== they walk // this only the beginning // I have two foreclosed sold & closed to listed & two that I,m sure about coming in ......:behead:

And when is the last time the cape had a devastating hurricane?


June 2, 2006

Insurance costs soar on Cape homes

By CHRISTIE SMYTHE
Staff Writer
It may be the frying pan or the fire for many Cape and Islands home-owners this year when it comes to the cost of property insurance.
Not long after a slew of insurers began dropping policies in the region because of the potential for major storm damage, many of the homeowners who managed to retain their policies are now in for an unpleasant surprise: Their rates will take a big hike.
At least four of the region's remaining insurers are in the midst of increasing premiums by as much as 200 percent.



Among those raising rates are The Patrons Group, Quincy Mutual Fire Insurance Co., The Norfolk & Dedham Group and AIG. Some rate increases took effect recently, and others will be implemented in coming weeks.
According to local insurance agents, rates are going up by as much as 200 percent for The Patrons Group; 70 percent for Quincy Mutual; and 66 percent for AIG Private Client Group. AIG is one of only a few companies that still insures Cape homes with a replacement cost of more than $1 million.
Norfolk & Dedham is increasing its premiums more modestly, by ''a couple hundred dollars per policy,'' according to company president Tim Hegarty. Norfolk & Dedham, which has about 4,000 Cape and Islands policies, will probably continue to raise rates in the future, he said.
Company representatives would not provide specifics on the premiums they currently charge Cape customers.
The rate increases are coming at about the same time that NGM Insurance Co., also known as National Grange, is beginning to notify roughly 2,300 Cape and Islands home- owners it will drop their policies. The Florida-based company is the latest in a string of insurers to withdraw from the region over the past two years.
Other companies have kept existing policies but have stopped taking new Cape customers.
These changes have forced tens of thousands of Cape home-
owners into the Massachusetts FAIR Plan, the state's often more steeply priced insurer of last resort. The FAIR Plan has swelled into the region's largest insurer, now covering 43,000 properties, or about a third of the market. Six years ago, the FAIR Plan had about 6,000 Cape policies.
The first major insurer to bail out of the region was The Andover Cos., which announced in 2004 it would drop about 14,000 homeowners policies.
Potential for damage
Now, Andover is also dropping many of its policies for businesses and rental property owners in the area, according to Kathy Silvia, co-owner of The Fair Insurance Agency in Centerville.
The reasons for the rate increases are largely the same as those behind the exodus of insurance companies from the region, insurance executives and agents say. Newly revised hurricane projections show potential for massive damage here. As such, companies are raising rates to cover the increasing cost of reinsurance, which helps insurers pay claims in large-scale disasters.
''This spring, reinsurance costs have gone up dramatically, more than we expected them to go up,'' Hegarty said.
Hegarty said Norfolk & Dedham is raising its rates in an effort to stay in the territory. Patrons Group, based in Connecticut, is also passing along dramatic rate increases in an effort to stay on the Cape, President Bill Siclari said.
''I'm not making any money from this. Really,'' he said.
Although Siclari would not disclose his company's average premiums, he said, for his own vacation home in East Orleans, his premium is increasing from $1,400 to $2,700.
Patrons Group insures about 1,500 Cape properties and about 5,500 in other coastal areas of Massachusetts.
No relief likely
The FAIR Plan is also expected to increase premiums in the coming weeks. The organization that runs the plan has requested rate increases averaging about 25 percent for the Cape, which may be approved later this month.
The average FAIR Plan annual premium on the Cape now costs about $1,300.
As some insurance companies have ventured back into the Cape market, they have often been charging as much as, or more than the FAIR Plan, local insurance agents say.
After raising premiums by as much as 70 percent, Quincy Mutual will be ''kind of in the middle of the pack'' for rates, Executive Vice President Kevin Meskell said. Quincy Mutual is also dropping about 1,500 of its 6,000 Cape policies.
var bnum=new Number(Math.floor(99999999 * Math.random())+1); document.write(''); http://oascentral.capecodonline.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_lx.ads/www.cct.com/news/articles/cctimes/555932678/x96/Ottaway/CCT_2028_M_Advertisecom/CCT_2028_M_1by1Pixel-Redirect/34313630363364613434373265633330? (http://oascentral.capecodonline.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.cct.com/news/articles/cctimes/555932678/Middle/Ottaway/CCT_2028_M_Advertisecom/CCT_2028_M_1by1Pixel-Redirect/34313630363364613434373265633330?) The situation for many Cape property owners is growing bleaker as concerns about hurricanes in the Northeast continue to mount. Customers will likely continue to face higher rates, agents say.
''Typically, we say there's a light at the end of the tunnel. I don't know where the tunnel ends,'' Silvia said. Because of the increasing risk, insurance company executives say they often have no choice but to leave the coast or charge higher rates. ''It's pretty clear that a coastal property will suffer the biggest losses in a hurricane,'' Hegarty said.

My "coastal" property is 76' above sea level and 3 miles from the nearest major body of water--unless the Canal qualifies :af:

If we get slammed with a Katrina, does the Federal government give away money to cover the costs of not only regular type people who don't have insurance, or not enough, and loose their homes but also the rich people who suffer because they don't have insurance or enough(or flim-flam)?

The wife and I counted 13 "For Sale" signs on Bradford Street in P-Town today between Conwell and thd Truro today. Conwell Street isn't quite center of P-town and that was just one Street. Washington! We have a problem!!

BJ NS & more too come ><>><><:fishslap: