Mortgage Crisis Threatens 4,000 New Hampshire Homeowners

By Ugur Akinci, Ph.D.

According to a news story broadcast by WMUR of Manchester, 4,000 home owners in New Hampshire are likely to lose their homes to foreclosures within the next 24 months.

The reason is one that is very familiar to millions of Americans by now – the difficulty in paying the ARM (adjustable rate mortgage) acquired with agreeable terms years ago. When the ARM interest rate eventually jumps up, a lot of home owners find out that they cannot afford the higher monthly payment anymore.

A case in point reported by WMUR is the mortgage of Peter DeCaprio, 53, an executive chef of no ordinary skills who once prepared meals for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Due to unforeseen health problems, DeCaprio is finding it difficult to pay his monthly ARM payment of $1,600 which will reportedly go even higher when the rate jumps in 2009.

Another news item by www.thisishampshire.net claimes that "more than 1,000 families lost their homes in south-west Hampshire last year, and the numbers of homes being repossessed in Southampton has quadrupled in 12 months."

Seems like the sub-prime mortgage crisis has hit the Granite State at full force and the next two years will be critical for the New Hampshire homeowners before it gets any better.