Another Morgantown Question :)

[CTMountaineer]

An article in today's Dominion Post said that they only had 4 mortgage defaults in all of Monongalia County during 2008, which is actually below average and counter to trends elsewhere. Local real estate people are reporting strong home sales throughout the county continue. The local economy in Morgantown is still going very strong, and that doesn't look to change any time soon.

[happeemommee]

FOUR? IN THE ENTIRE COUNTY?!!! that is absoluetly fantastic!! This may be a dumb question, but were mortgages harder to get there? Honestly, I don 't think that's the reason, but I had to ask. WOW! lol, I just can't say that enough!

[tbailey1138]

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

An article in today's Dominion Post said that they only had 4 mortgage defaults in all of Monongalia County during 2008, which is actually below average and counter to trends elsewhere. Local real estate people are reporting strong home sales throughout the county continue. The local economy in Morgantown is still going very strong, and that doesn't look to change any time soon.

Saw that number too but it was just for the Clear Mountain Bank only. Here's the quote "In fact, Thomas said, Clear Mountain only foreclosed on 4 homes in all of 2008, an average if not low number." There was an article in the DP a few weeks ago that stated that Mon County had, I believe, 76 foreclosures for 2008. Still much better than the national average for sure. Here's an article from the WV Gazette talking about how low foreclosures in WV are with a county by county map for 2007. It also mentions though that we are likely under-reporting as well.

The Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports - News - How many foreclosures? 'We know we're underreporting in West Virginia'*

[snorpus]

Amazing. RealtyTrac doesn't even footnote their data to indicate that they have incomplete data for WV, and what data they do have, might generously be characterized as "unreliable".

[CTMountaineer]

Originally Posted by tbailey1138

Saw that number too but it was just for the Clear Mountain Bank only. Here's the quote "In fact, Thomas said, Clear Mountain only foreclosed on 4 homes in all of 2008, an average if not low number." There was an article in the DP a few weeks ago that stated that Mon County had, I believe, 76 foreclosures for 2008. Still much better than the national average for sure. Here's an article from the WV Gazette talking about how low foreclosures in WV are with a county by county map for 2007. It also mentions though that we are likely under-reporting as well.

The Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports - News - How many foreclosures? 'We know we're underreporting in West Virginia'*

I re-read the article, and it was 4 for Clear Mountain Bank. Looking further, I could only find 32 foreclosures listed, so my hunch is the 76 you are talking about refers to "foreclosure notices", many of which never actually go into foreclosure. The other banks mentioned in the article stated that they actually have a higher than usual number of applications for mortgages, and that they seldom foreclose on a property in Monongalia.

It does seem that the area in general did not engage in the "sub-prime" mortgage lending that took place elsewhere. Banks attempted to insure that borrowers had the resources to pay their loans, so that explains part of the low rate. A very strong local economy explains the rest of it. If the State will only get off its duff and do its job in terms of infrastructure upgrades, growth can take place even more quickly.

[WVUPharm2007]

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

If the State will only get off its duff and do its job in terms of infrastructure upgrades, growth can take place even more quickly.

LOL. Yeah...that seems to be one of those sayings passed down from generation to generation...if only the state gov't would do something approaching rational...

[CTMountaineer]

Originally Posted by WVUPharm2007

LOL. Yeah...that seems to be one of those sayings passed down from generation to generation...if only the state gov't would do something approaching rational...

West Virginia is a wonderful state full of great people, and North Central in particular is an especially great place to live for lots of reasons. The state's biggest problem is related to the intense clannishness exhibited in regional rivalries that bring about a lack of real cooperation in state government, and keep the state from reaching its true potential as a whole. It is a state whose government is dominated by one-party political hacks who are only interested in promoting their own narrow agendas. Petty jealousies and bickering are the norm.

If a means were found to make logic prevail, with the resources and location of the state it would rapidly rise in stature related to other states. It would take a total paradym shift.