World News and Trends: U.S. home-foreclosure rate approaches Great Depression's
by John Ross Schroeder, Scott Ashley
Posted on 15-Jun-1998
Although the American economy appears strong, some troubling statistics indicate that it is not as stable as it may appear.
In 1997 a record 1.3 million Americans declared bankruptcy-an increase of more than 20 percent for the second year in a row. In 1998 more families will likely lose their homes to foreclosure than in any year since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Analysts noted that in recent months 1.09 percent of mortgage loans were in the process of foreclosure-a rate almost double that of the recession years of the 1980s. These percentages mean that more than half a million homes will likely be lost by home owners this year. (Source: The Denver Post.)
