MODESTO, Calif. — A staggering 10,700 Stanislaus County homes were lost to foreclosure during 2007 and 2008. That's nearly 9 percent of all houses and condos in the county.
Losses have been far greater in some communities. In Patterson, about 1,200 homes - almost one in five - have defaulted mortgages and have been repossessed by lenders.
Modesto also has been overwhelmed with about 5,200 foreclosed homes, more than 8 percent of its total.
The new foreclosure statistics, provided by MDA DataQuick, show how widespread the crisis has become. Every ZIP code in the region has been hit, from rural hamlets such as Keyes (14 percent) to commuter meccas like Lathrop (21 percent).
Homeowners defaulted on nearly $3.9 billion worth of mortgages in Stanislaus since 2007, plus $6.7 billion in San Joaquin County and more than $2.4 billion in Merced County, according to ForeclosureRadar statistics.
Most streets have at least one foreclosed house, and many neighborhoods are littered with them. Most bank-owned properties are put on sale at discount prices, and many of them have become investor-owned rentals.
Read the full story at modbee.com