subprime fallout

Housing downturn bankrupts borrowers Richard Burnett | Sentinel Staff Writer August 6, 2007 Article Tools E-mail Print Single page view Reprints Reader feedback text size: The housing boom may seem a distant memory, but experts say the real-estate speculation and "creative" financing it generated are now driving many investors and homeowners into bankruptcy, especially in Central Florida. Personal bankruptcies in the Orlando area were up 80 percent during the first half of 2007 -- the biggest rate increase in the federal court system's Middle District of Florida, which includes Jacksonville and Tampa. Orlando's jump in bankruptcies also far outstripped the national rate, which was up 43 percent compared with the first six months of 2006. Orlando bankruptcy lawyer Richard Heller is seeing a lot of people these days who thought they had placed a sure bet during the recent housing boom.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. --- John Kennedy, Tallahassee bureau chief for the Orlando Sentinel, posted a grim analysis of Fla.'s economic trends Sunday that's perhaps most laudable for its subtlety. "This is a big deal, a very big deal," said economist Chris McCarty at the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research. ...In fact, some economists say Florida is teetering close to a recession. They say home values could fall as much as 15 percent this year, sparking a general economic decline. These days economists come in two flavors: pessimist and diet pessimist. University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith, left, is diet, but with a big squirt of Marie Antoinette syrup: "There's definitely a lot of hot air leaking out of the souffle because of the housing market, but I don't see a recession," said Sean Snaith, [left,] an economist at the University of Central Florida. "Still, it's going to be a couple of years before housing and the economy comes back." In six weeks, Fla. legislators will convene in Tallahassee to cut as much as $1.1 billion from the budget. Most cuts will come from programs funded by $29 billion in general revenue---mostly tax proceeds.

Rank City State 2000 2006 % 1 Lincoln California 11,746 39,566 236.8% 2 Buckeye Arizona 10,147 29,615 191.9% 3 Surprise Arizona 32,342 85,914 165.6% 4 Goodyear Arizona 19,495 47,359 142.9% 5 Plainfield Illinois 13,666 31,968 133.9% 6 Beaumont California 11,549 26,625 130.5% 7 Frisco Texas 35,299 80,499 128.0% 8 Wylie Texas 15,619 32,696 109.3% 9 Avondale Arizona 37,261 75,403 102.4% 10 Woodstock Georgia 10,697 21,482 100.8% 11 Cedar Park Texas 26,926 52,058 93.3% 12 Brentwood California 24,757 47,547 92.1% 13 McKinney Texas 56,087 107,530 91.7% 14 Oswego Illinois 13,814 26,252 90.0% 15 Castle Rock Colorado 20,907 39,682 89.8% 16 Commerce Colorado 21,437 38,887 81.4% 17 Murrieta California 51,678 90,457 75.0% 18 Holly Springs North Carolina 10,017 17,425 74.0% 19 Winter Garden Florida 15,590 27,045 73.5% 20 Wake Forest North Carolina 13,080 22,651 73.2% 21 Rockwall Texas 18,610 32,224 73.2% 22 Sachse Texas 10,257 17,597 71.6% 23 Pflugerville Texas 17,451 29,747 70.5% 24 Gilbert Arizona 112,766 191,517 69.8% 25 Homestead Florida 31,950 53,767 68.3% 26 La Quinta California 24,606 41,328 68.0% 27 Parker Colorado 24,717 41,406 67.5% 28 North Las Vegas Nevada 117,953 197,567 67.5% 29 Romeoville Illinois 22,000 36,837 67.4% 30 Corinth Texas 11,738 19,556 66.6% 31 Newnan Georgia 16,451 <td