Suburban Cleveland Foreclosures Rise

Most people are aware that Ohio has a high foreclosure rate. My guess is, many people also think that most of the foreclosures are in the major cities, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton, Akron, Toledo, etc, and much of that belief is probably true; however, The Plain Dealer reported in an article on 4/11 that even the more affluent counties are experiencing dramatic increases in foreclosures. According to the article, 73 of Ohio's 88 counties had increases in the number of foreclosure filings in 2007, representing one foreclosure for every 60 housing units in Ohio (and remember, that was just in 2007!!!). Cleveland's suburban counties saw a big jump in foreclosures in 2007, with suburban Lake County up more than 22%, suburban Medina County up nearly 18%, and suburban Geauga County up more than 21%. Cuyahoga County, which is Cleveland proper and the near suburbs, saw an increase of a little more than 7%, but continued to be the county with the highest number of foreclosures in the state, with nearly 15,000, while Franklin County, which is Columbus proper and the near suburbs, was the second highest in the state, with more than 9100.