Business and the Economy
» Foreclosed Homes

[Photo: AP]

Perhaps nothing represents Florida's economic doldrums in 2009 better than a foreclosed home.

An initial wave of foreclosures came as interest rates reset, payments rose and many home buyers found themselves overextended. Another wave has followed, as homeowners lost jobs and the rate of foreclosure and delinquency in the state rose to one of the highest in the nation in 2009. As of September, one in every four mortgages in Florida was at least one payment past due or in foreclosure, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. An increasing number of those foreclosures involve fixed-rate loans made to consumers with good credit, as opposed to the subprime loans that initially drove the crisis. Experts predict little improvement this year as continued high unemployment pushes more Floridians out of their homes. Amy Baker, chief economist for the state, doesn't expect a recovery in the Florida housing market until 2011. — Amy Keller

Home, Foreclosed Home
According to a November report from the Mortgage Bankers Association, 12.18% of Florida's 3.4 million mortgages were past due and 12.74% were in foreclosure.

Going Bust
Nearly 80,000 Floridians declared bankruptcy through the end of October.
Despite the passage of a federal law in 2005 that makes filing for Chapter 7 more difficult, 59,448 Floridians filed for bankruptcy liquidation last year and another 19,565 filed for Chapter 13 personal bankruptcy reorganization. The state ranks second after California in terms of actual number of bankruptcies —169,692 Californians filed for bankruptcy during the same period — and 15th in the nation among states with the greatest per capita bankruptcy filings.

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