Bridgeport, New Haven Foreclosures Among Highest In State
By Aglaia Pikounis
U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan was in Hartford today participating in a housing forum. He planned to visit New Haven and Bridgeport later in the day to meet with housing counselors and homeowners at risk of foreclosure.
Bridgeport has had the most foreclosures in Connecticut. A total of 450 residential properties were taken in foreclosure last year in Bridgeport, according to The Warren Group.
That represents 1.7 percent of all residential properties in the city.
In New Haven, 395 homes were foreclosed on in 2008, which is about 2 percent of all residential properties in the city.
Donovan said that homes falling into foreclosure can become blighted and pull down housing values in the surrounding neighborhood.
Bridgeport and New Haven are perfect examples of this.
The two cities have seen home prices plummet as foreclosure activity has escalated.
The median price for single-family homes sold during the first two month of the year has dropped to $160,000, 26 percent lower than the $215,000 median recorded a year earlier, according to data from The Warren Group.
New Haven’s price drop during that time period has been steeper.
The median selling price for homes fell 28 percent to $105,000 from $146,150 a year ago.