Maine Foreclosure Rate Indicates Slow Recovery From Housing Crisis

PORTLAND, Maine - Reports show Maine is slow to recover from the 2008 housing crisis compared to other states, with foreclosure activity still higher than pre-recession levels.
 
The Portland Press Herald reports that there were 3,779 Maine properties in 2016 with at least one foreclosure filing, down 37 percent from Maine's peak foreclosure year of 2013, when 6,037 properties in the state had at least one foreclosure filing. In 2006, that number was just 50, according to Attom Data and RealtyTrac.
 
Analysts say the state has a longer foreclosure process that can take years to complete.  Second, the peak rate of foreclosures was much higher in Maine at 1.7 percent of all mortgaged properties, compared to the national average of 0.8 percent.