A Dayton nonprofit is getting ready for another wave of economic fallout to come—an anticipated rise in the number of Montgomery County home foreclosures.
Julie Deacon at County Corp’s Homeownership Center says a lot of people with mortgages are going to be hit hard by the pandemic.
“We are getting ready to gear up to provide foreclosure prevention counseling,” she says. “We have not had an increase in those numbers yet, but we predict that by the end of the year, we’re going to see those numbers uptick.”
She says County Corp is working with Montgomery County to create an emergency foreclosure assistance program to help people in default or forbearance. It will be funded with about $5 million from the federal CARES Act.
While some homeowners are struggling, Deacon says other people are calling County Corp because they want to buy homes. She says many renters who are still working have been able to save money during the shutdown—money that could go toward a down payment.
At the same time, fewer homes are on the market. She says people haven’t wanted to host open houses, and the end result is rising property values in some areas.
“When we’re working with homebuyers on the low to moderate income level, it’s squeezing them out of the market,” Deacon says.
She says that combination of homeowners in danger and eager buyers priced out of the market makes this financial crisis unique.
