A new report by real estate website PropertyShark found that first-time home foreclosures in Queens are up 27 percent since last year.
Queens has consistently struggled with a high number of home foreclosures. Last year, 227 were scheduled for auction during the third quarter of 2016. This year, 288 properties were scheduled for auction, more than any other borough.
The area codes 11434 and 11412, Jamaica and St. Albans, reported the largest number of first-time foreclosures with 29 and 21, respectively.
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Though the number of foreclosures has increased year-over-year, first-time foreclosures in the borough decreased since last quarter, when 388 homes were scheduled for foreclosure.
Last year, city officials announced the Community Restoration Program, where the city will purchase 24 distressed mortgages for one- to four-family homes — or 41 residential units — in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island.
“We are fighting to help homeowners stay in the neighborhoods they helped build. And we won’t let predators force them out,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement. “The Community Restoration Program is the first of its kind, and it puts government squarely on the side of struggling families so they can keep their homes.”
The $13 million program is being funded with $1 million allocated by the City Council and $6.9 million from Goldman Sachs’ Urban Investment Group. A $2.2 million grant from the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and $2.9 million in funds received from Morgan Stanley as part of their settlement obtained by the New York State Attorney General will also fund the program.
Single- and two-family homes have seen the highest increases in first-time home foreclosures during this quarter.
First-time foreclosures in all five boroughs increased a whopping 79 percent year-over-year. According to the report, 89 homes were scheduled in quarter 3 this year compared to 481 homes last year.
