Georgia foreclosures jump 99%; rate is nation's 3rd highest

Hundreds of Georgians lost their homes Tuesday.  The houses were sold to bidders on courthouse steps statewide.
The increasingly busy monthly auctions show that not all of the residential market is in decline.
Foreclosures are rising.
More than 115,000 properties across the country were in the foreclosure process in October — up 42 percent from the same month a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac, a California company that tracks foreclosures.

Foreclosures in Georgia are up a stunning 99 percent in the past year.

The state now has the nation's third-highest rate of foreclosures: One in every 449 households. In October, that meant 6,895 properties were in the foreclosure process.

Not all changed hands. Some homeowners came up with the needed payments; others couldn't afford the whole debt but lenders agreed to a delay while they worked out a payment plan. Still, hundreds were auctioned.

The taking of homes — generally because the owner hasn't been making mortgage payments — has always been brisk here because state laws are written for speed. Georgia is one of three states in which lenders can foreclose on houses in as few as 37 days.

Foreclosures ramped up in recent months as once-low introductory interest rates on adjustable mortgages edged up, making monthly payments unaffordable for some homeowners.