Tulsa Area Realtors Say Foreclosures Are On The Rise

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, Oklahoma -- Forbes Magazine has ranked Tulsa as one of the fastest recovering cities in the U.S. last year, but residents are still dealing with increasing foreclosures rates.

There is no question, foreclosure is a harsh reality that seems to go hand in hand with a tough economy.

This affects thousands of people every day.

The latest housing report from a research company called Corelogic released these rates for the Tulsa area.

In Tulsa, foreclosure rates are up in September of this year when compared to September 2009. In 2010, the rate was just under 2.5 percent, up from 1.8 percent in 2009.

The News On 6 checked with several realtors to learn more about Tulsa's foreclosures.

A broker from ERA John Hausan Realtors told us that Tulsa is a strange market.

The interest rates have never been this low, meaning below 5 percent, which is roughly the national average. But foreclosure rates are going up. This is simply because people can't afford to pay their mortgage.

So with the horror stories of families losing their homes, realtors are noticing another shift. Now buyers are using caution when buying a home.

They're willing to buy something that costs significantly less than what they're qualified to buy.

Foreclosures affect not only families but banks as well.

A Tulsa realtor says one of the ways banks will try to avoid a foreclosure is to work with the homeowner and make a deal.

Here's an example, say a homeowner is four months behind on their payments, the bank offered to tack those payments onto the end of the 30 year mortgage instead of forcing the homeowner to make the payments right away.

More people in Tulsa are struggling to pay their mortgage payment on time.

That said Oklahoma's doing a lot better than other states. Realtors say houses nationwide are typically on the market for about 90 days and in Tulsa it's a little bit lower.

Homes are selling on average in the greater Tulsa area for about $164,000.