Manatee County's foreclosure wave entered its third year at its highest crest yet.
Lenders filed 526 foreclosure suits in Manatee County Circuit Court in September, according to the Manatee County Clerk of Court's office. That's the most ever in a single month, topping the previous record of 502 set in July, and pushed this year's total to a record 4,146 filings with three months to go.
"With credit harder to get with what's going on in the economy, I'm not surprised," said "Mortgage" Mike Koebel of MetLife, a 23-year veteran of the mortgage business. "I don't see any signs of it abating."
Analysts agree, saying a second wave of foreclosures is gaining steam but for different reasons.
The mortgage crisis began in 2006 - Manatee foreclosure filings began climbing in September of that year - with high-interest subprime loans made to borrowers with poor credit.
Now, it's more-creditworthy borrowers being squeezed by falling home values, the credit crunch and rising food and energy costs who are being threatened. Most at risk: Those who stretched their budgets by taking out adjustable-rate mortgages whose rates will be resetting higher in the next two years, analysts said.
Those loans' monthly payments will increase by an average of 65 percent, accounting for most of the almost $100 billion in U.S. home loans deemed at-risk for foreclosure through 2010, a recent Fitch Ratings report said.
Koebel said a one-point rate increase translates into $64 more a month for every $100,000 borrowed. Thus, a homeowner who took out a $250,000 loan could see his monthly mortgage payment rise by $480 with a three-point increase.
That could be the breaking point for such borrowers, many of whom didn't have to submit financial information to get the loan, he said.
"These people are facing a higher interest rate and having to verify income, so there's two strikes there," Koebel said. "When home prices are falling, that's strike three."
Sales prices in the Sarasota/Bradenton market have fallen 17 percent in the past year, the Florida Association of Realtors said. That has prevented many who bought during the housing boom from selling their home to avoid foreclosure.
An analysis of the September foreclosure filings shows:
• 55 percent of the subject properties had homestead exemptions.
• 66 percent had Bradenton mailing addresses.
• Greenbrook Village (14), Stoneybrook at Heritage Harbour (10) and Sunny Lakes Estates (9) had the most filings among neighborhoods.
But it's not just single-family homes and condominiums facing foreclosure. Last month, lenders also sought to foreclose on a small motel in Palmetto, a proposed residential development in northern Manatee and half of a residential subdivision under construction in East Manatee.
That leaves Koebel pessimistic that a turnaround is imminent.
"Now I'm afraid it's probably going to get worse," he said. "I hate to say it, but I'm afraid we're far from being out of the woods yet."
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