The number of foreclosure filings in the county appears to be rising. Let’s qualify the very general observation made in the preceding sentence with a few latest authoritative statistics to make it more meaningful.

There are at present 25,027 foreclosure homes in Orange County, CA, and the median sale price is $381,135. The larger picture is formed by there being as many as 1,979,535 foreclosed houses in the whole of US, bearing a significantly lower median listed price of $172,788.   

California leads the pack of states that witnessed the most foreclosure activity during September, 2009, with 86,337 fresh foreclosure filings. Other hot foreclosure states include Florida, Nevada, Michigan, Georgia and Arizona. 

During September, 2009, one in every 65,037 US housing units became the unhappy recipient of a foreclosure filing. The corresponding figure for Orange County is one in every 21,943 housing units. So, it’s obvious that the problem is much worse in this Californian County than it is for the nation as a whole.

The Human Aspect behind the Cold Numbers

The numbers and statistics of foreclosure filings fail to represent the economic opportunities that they represent to intending homebuyers, as well as the misery of the dispossessed homeowners. Foreclosure is a coin with at least two sides. Aspiring buyers perceive in the foreclosure auctions the rare chance of buying a gorgeous home in a posh locality at a mere fraction of its actual market value. There are others who indulge in a buying spree of properties, with the intention of flipping them later at handsome profits, when the market rebounds.

However, the economic and psychological distress suffered by a family that has been deprived of its home cannot be adequately portrayed. When this occurrence takes on the dimension of a national calamity, the anguish caused to people is manifold and unimaginable. It might be pertinent to remain aware of the more frail human aspect to the real estate and money games that the government foreclosures normally mean to everyone.