Help for Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

November 20, 2008

Everyone seems to agree that flooding the market with empty, foreclosed homes does not help neighborhoods maintain stability – either as a way of living, or regarding the value of homes. Empty homes do nothing for a neighborhood.

Recently some organizations are taking tentative steps to allow homeowners who are defaulting on their mortgage to remain in their homes –at least for the time being.

Fannie and Freddie Mac have announced that they are freezing foreclosure sales until after the new year while they review strategies and the future of their organizations. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. recently announced foreclosure-prevention programs that aim to reduce interest rates, extend repayment schedules and, in the case of Citigroup, reduce loan amounts, to help borrowers keep their homes. But the programs have focused primarily on loans wholly owned by those companies because they feel they have more authority to rework those mortgages.

HSBC is also making more options available to more people. For example, it is contacting customers before their adjustable-rate loans reset to higher rates and freezing the current rate or allowing the borrower to pay a rate below what the new rate would be. The bank also is lowering fixed rates for selected borrowers. All this in an effort to stave of foreclosures.

One way of stabilizing markets where supply exceeds demand is to regulate supply. That way the people who can buy homes can buy from sellers who can’t afford to stay in their current home. But, amazingly enough, new home construction is still going on – even in saturated markets. Merrill Lynch economist David Rosenberg suggests, only half-jokingly, that the Treasury should impose a moratorium on home building. "It sounds like lunacy, but we have to destroy the housing capital stock to help put a floor under the market," he said.

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Local Information for Fernandina Beach, FL

Latitude: 30.663433 -- Longitude: -81.451731

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Fernandina Beach is a city in Nassau County in the state of Florida in the United States of America and on Amelia Island. The area was first inhabited by the Timucuan tribe. Known as the "Isle of 8 Flags", it had the following flags flown over it since 1562: France, Spain, Great Britain, Spain (again), the Patriots of Amelia Island, the Green Cross of Florida, Mexico, the Confederate States of America, and the United States.[1] The population was 10,549 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 11,241. It is the county seat of Nassau County.GR6 -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Florida 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Fernandina Beach	Florida	United States
Population	10,549	15,982,378	281,421,906
Median age	43	38.7	35.3
Median age for Male	41.2	37.3	34
Median age for Female	44.7	40.1	36.5
Households	4,525	6,337,929	105,480,101
Household population	10,304	15,593,433	273,643,273
Average household size	2.28	2.46	2.59
Families	2,940	4,210,760	71,787,347
Average family size	2.78	2.98	3.14
Housing units	5,588	7,302,947	115,904,641
Occupied units	4,525	6,337,929	105,480,101
Vacant units	1,063	965,018	10,424,540

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