Area foreclosures continue to climb

MANATEE — Foreclosures were up by more than 5 percent in December in the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice area from a year ago, according to new data released Thursday.

The foreclosure rate was 10.72 percent, up from 5,69 percent in December 2008, said First American CoreLogic, which provides real estate and mortgage data and analytics.

The area’s foreclosure rate was higher than the national rate of 3.16 percent in December, the data shows.

Along with more foreclosures, the area’s mortgage delinquency rate also increased. Mortgage loans that were 90 days or more delinquent were 16.5 percent, compared to 9.75 percent for December of 2008.

The reason foreclosure and delinquencies are increasing is a lack of jobs and high unemployment, said Cynthia Riddell, attorney with Riddell Law Group in Sarasota. Manatee had a 13 percent unemployment rate in December.

“The defaults, the pre-foreclosure period, tells me there are a lot of people out there who were better credit risk but have lost their jobs and can’t pay their debt,” she said.

The readjusting of negative amortization products also will cause foreclosure to continue to rise into 2010, Riddell said.

Slowing foreclosure rates will only come when the employment picture brightens, she said.

Florida’s overall foreclosure rate was higher in December than locally, with 11.03 percent, up from 6.44 percent in December of 2008.