D.C. region's foreclosure rate soars!

Six-fold increase surpasses most hot spots in the United States

WASHINGTON - June 19, 2008 - The Washington, D.C.  region now has one of the fastest-growing foreclosure rates in the nation, as 15,613 homes went into foreclosure during the one-year period ending in February, an analysis to be released today has found.

Although communities have felt the effects of the housing crisis for months, the report reveals that foreclosures in the Washington region have been increasing at a surprisingly quick pace, outstripping those of most major metropolitan areas. Over the past year, the number of foreclosures per 10,000 homes jumped from 23 to 131 locally, while the national average increased from 58 to 87.

The nation's hardest-hit areas of Phoenix, Miami and San Francisco have a greater share of homes in foreclosure, but the six-fold increase in the Washington area tops that of any other region in the report, commissioned by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and Freddie Mac.

"While foreclosures were practically nonexistent in the Washington area 18 months ago, it's now very prevalent, and we're above the national average," said the report's author, John McCain, deputy director of George Mason University's Center for Regional Analysis.