RealtyTrac , a national real estate database that tracks foreclosure information, recently published third quarter foreclosure statistics that showed a so-called five-year low in foreclosures – a talking point the Obama campaign has fully embraced.
But, the foreclosure stats in swing state Colorado are doing the Obama campaign no favors. The stats ranked Colorado tenth among all 50 states in foreclosure rate. At one in every 216 homes in the foreclosure process, it is evident that the much awaited housing recovery has not yet found its way to many parts of Colorado.
Some of these problems can be linked to weaker wage earnings in Colorado than the nation as a whole. A report published by the Colorado Division of Housing on September 28, 2012 showed year over year Q2 earnings from wages up just 2.9% in Colorado, versus an increase of 3.4% nationally.
Weak wage earnings, coupled with rising prices at the gas pump, grocery store, and child care center, have left many Colorado families with difficult decisions to make regarding the reduced purchasing power of their stagnate wages. With the average foreclosure process taking hundreds of days, a decision to put off the mortgage payment is often less painful that forgoing other necessities. Not exactly the change that many Coloradoans were seeking four years ago.