via Housing Bubble Blog:
[T]he Hamptons, the summer hangout for Manhattan’s rich and famous, is seeing its fair share of troubled real estate—not unlike the rest of the nation.
There are about 40 homes in various stages of foreclosure in East Hampton and another 40 in Southampton, he said. “A year ago, you just didn’t see that.” The houses involved include a $4 million property, although most are more modest homes, he said.
Many of the houses are unoccupied and serve as second or even third homes for the wealthy. Mr. Brady said some buyers put little money down on their purchases, believing that the properties would not only serve as vacation getaways, but as rapidly appreciating investments and tax write-offs. Most of the foreclosed properties are at the lower end of the price scale for the area, however, and some are primary residences, he said.
Nationally, foreclosure filings rose 75% in 2007 from a year earlier, to 2.2 million, RealtyTrac reported last week. That’s 1% of U.S. households
2 comments:
That's actually pretty surprising. Until now the high end of the markets have faired well through the mortgage/foreclosure mess. It would be interesting to see if other prime vacation spots for the rich and wealthy will experience a jump in foreclosure as well.
That's already happened in Cape Cod and parts of Coastal Florida. Lending to poor people wasn't the problem. The 'higher end' of the markets can just hide their problems for longer -- you're not seeing any appreciation or much activity in these areas now.
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