Home loan defaults persist in Myrtle Beach area

If the latest numbers are an indication, the foreclosure problem along the Grand Strand is not going away.

Horry County foreclosures were up almost 89 percent in July when compared to the same month last year, and jumped almost 132 percent over June's numbers.

There were a total of 489 foreclosures in Horry County, where one of about every 350 people face foreclosure, giving the county the fourth-highest rate in the state.

Georgetown County foreclosures increased 50 percent last month from July 2009, but dropped about 35 percent from June. There were a total of nine foreclosures

Brunswick County, N.C., had 59 foreclosures in July, up about 392 percent from the same month last year and up 1.7 percent from June.

Foreclosures continue to be a problem for the Grand Strand real estate market, said Tom Maeser, a real estate analyst with the Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors.

"It's totally foreclosure-driven, and the longer foreclosures are on the market, the longer they are going to drive down the price," he said.

Foreclosure properties are likely to sell at lower rates than a typical sale, and with so many of them being used to determine appraisals, overall prices have been dropping.

Local agencies, such as Family Services Inc., say that new funding and programs from the federal government should help struggling homeowners stay in their homes and reduce foreclosure rates.

This week the Treasury Department announced that it would give South Carolina $59 million to help unemployed homeowners, in addition to the $138 million the state received last week through the "Hardest Hit program." North Carolina will receive $121 million of new funding, in addition to $159 million through the "Hardest Hit program."

A new program run buy the Department of Housing and Urban Development will also provide homeowners with emergency, no-interest loans of up to $50,000 for up to two years.