Maricopa County is located in the centre of Arizona State. Its seat is in Phoenix – it also being the capital and most populous city of Arizona. Phoenix is one of the top ten fastest growing cities in America according to a study by Forbes. Maricopa County is home to 12 Indian Reservations. The Whites make up about 77% of the population. The average income of a household was $45,358. Demographics and income statistics play an important role while calculating the reasons for increasing number of Maricopa Repo homes.
By Maricopa Repo homes are meant those houses that have been repossessed by the banks after having foreclosed upon these. The sub-prime meltdown has led to an increase in foreclosed houses. With supply being greater than demand the foreclosed houses are having difficulty in getting sold at court auctions. The banks are now overburdened with innumerable Maricopa Repo homes. The banks and lenders are not landlords by profession and hence they are eager to sell these off. But during the troubled times it is difficult to dispose of Maricopa Repo homes even after offering heavy discounts. There are no buyers for Maricopa Repo homes mainly because the mortgage companies after having suffered losses are reluctant to advance housing loans. Then there are many potential buyers who are sitting on the fence waiting to see if the price of Maricopa Repo homes further falls.
The abandoned Maricopa Repo homes are causing great problems for the community and the local administration. The health officials are worried about the health problems related to Maricopa Repo homes. The stagnant swimming pools in these Maricopa Repo homes are becoming fertile breeding nurseries for mosquitoes. Those living adjacent to Maricopa Repo homes are complaining to the authorities. Complaints related to Maricopa Repo homes have gone up by 250% from what it was a year ago. The spread of Encephalitis and West Nile may be attributed directly to the increasing number of Maricopa Repo homes. The municipalities are in a fix with a tight budget to tackle the growing problem. The owners of Maricopa Repo homes, mainly the banks, are not paying timely the taxes; neither are they seeing to the maintenance of vacant Maricopa Repo homes. These Maricopa Repo homes have become a haven for anti-socials.
In April 2008 foreclosures in Maricopa County had increased by 331% from April 2007 according to Default Research. In the county there were 4,241 trustee sales – the highest number noted in a month. Phoenix recorded 1,550 foreclosure postings.