Detroit: highest home foreclosure rate in US

Foreclosures have also risen sharply in nearby Oakland and Macomb Counties, which ranked 17th on RealtyTrac’s list with more than 2 percent of the households in some form of foreclosure. This rate is 95 percent higher than it was in 2006, when 30,378 filings took place for 21,607 homes.

Nationally, 86 of the largest metropolitan areas of the country saw increases in foreclosures, according to RealtyTrac Chief Executive Officer James J. Saccacio. These included Stockton, California and Las Vegas, Nevada—number two and three on the list—which experienced sharp growth rates and unsustainable prices over the last few years.

Daren Blomquist of RealtyTrac told the WSWS that the crisis in Detroit was “due to the high unemployment Detroit has experienced compared to other areas.” In addition to high unemployment, continued Blomquist, “there is the loss of higher-wage jobs. People are not able to make their mortgage payments.”