Oklahoma Foreclosure Rates Ease

August 1st, 2008

After two months of acute worry and increase in foreclosures in May, Oklahoma foreclosure rates showed signs of easing. Oklahoma State lying in the south central region of USA is known as The Sooner State. Oklahoma is rich in gas, oil and food and perhaps this is the stabilizing factor that is cushioning the wave of foreclosures surging elsewhere. Oklahoma has one of the fastest growing economies in the country with records in education and healthcare.

The foreclosure numbers of Oklahoma in May was 30% less than the May figures. In May there were 1,213 foreclosure postings marking a 30.7% increase over May 2007. However it marked a noted betterment from 58.7% year-over-year rise in April as per data released by RealtyTrac. The foreclosure rate in Oklahoma is one out of every 1,325 houses is foreclosed upon. The decrease made the rank of the state fall to 29th from 22nd in April.

The two months preceding May had been bad for Oklahoma but the trend seems to have reversed making its performance better than the national average. In USA foreclosures in May increased by 7.36% from April and by 48.32% from May of the previous year of 2007. The national foreclosure rate is one out of every 483 houses are in foreclosure.

The executive vice president of Citizens Security Bank, John Mabrey said that it is the health of the local economy that keeps foreclosures in check. Due to the abnormal situation fewer house loans are being issued and this is likely to adversely affect the real estate with lesser number of buyers to take the houses off the shop shelves.

A spokesperson of Southern Hills Mortgage, Kevin Wheeler commented that there was nothing remarkable about May that would explain the drop. It is the houses that had been bought for speculation and investment purposes that are most likely to fall into foreclosure and boost the numbers. He added that he did not think that the final numbers have yet come out. “It may be a year and a half before we get to the bottom” he said.

RealtyTrac calculated that on the national scene May was the third straight month with increases (month to month). The question of whether foreclosures have reached a level is difficult to foretell at this point. Nationwide the foreclosure pace in May was on a low key with a modest increase of 1% from April this year.