According to an article in the Star-Telegram, foreclosures of luxury homes more than doubled in North Texas.
The article said:
Of the homes posted for foreclosure, the number valued at more than $1 million jumped 175 percent in the first quarter… Among homes valued at $1 million or more, there were 77 foreclosure postings in the first quarter, compared with 28 postings a year earlier.
We know that the foreclosure crisis is going form bad to worse when those owning million dollar homes begin facing foreclosure . Or, is it that the toxic mortgage crisis has reached even those who have in the past been almost immune to economic downturns? What has actually happened is that many mortgage company representatives convinced middle-class people that they could afford with million dollar homes and now with the crisis they simply can’t keep up with the payments or the Joneses. But don’t be fooled by the luxury foreclosures, those feeling most of the pain from this foreclosure crisis is still the average Joe. Eighty-one percent of all foreclosures in North Texas were valued at under $200,000. That’s 10,000 homeowners who went into foreclosure just in the first quarter of 2009. But I do wonder how many more luxury homes will succumb to foreclosure in 2009 as this crisis worsens and will that be the nudge our legislators need to take aggressive action against toxic mortgages?