New York foreclosures showed some improvements in several boroughs such as Staten Island, Manhattan, Bronx and Brooklyn. However, at Queens, the number of foreclosed homes during the last quarter of 2008 remained high compared with the same quarter in of the previous year.
First-time foreclosure rates in Queens for the last quarter of 2008 were 492, representing an 84 percent increase over the 268 figures posted for the same period in 2007. Compared with the third quarter 2008 figures, the fourth quarter numbers declined but not enough to bring relief to the housing market in the borough.
Troubled areas in the borough remained the same, with foreclosures at its highest in immigrant communities of Jamaica, Hollis, South Jamaica, Saint Albans, Elmhurst, Corona and Jackson Heights.
Meanwhile, Milano New School for Management and Urban Policy and Chhaya Community Development Corp. have released results of a study which showed the grim situation of South Asian minorities in Queens.
According to Chhaya, it released the study with the goal of raising public awareness to the condition of South Asian communities in Queens and to urge housing organizations and officials to be aggressive in their efforts to help homeowners of distressed properties.
The study, conducted from June to December 2008, showed that 53 percent of homeowners who were in some form of foreclosure process in Jamaica were South Asians. In Jackson Heights, 46 percent of distressed homeowners were South Asians.
Meanwhile, South Asian homes account for 50 percent of foreclosures in South Ozone.
Chhaya executive director Seema Agnani said that the figures provided are conservative because the study failed to include the Indo-Caribbean communities in southern Queens.
Agnani hopes that the incoming Obama Administration’s housing policies will be able to address the needs of immigrant communities in Queens, starting with strict rules for aggressive lenders.
Chayya offers housing-related counseling services in Hindu, Urdu, Bengali and English. It has been certified as a counseling agency by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Leticia Carvalho has been educated in the finer points of the foreclosures market over 5 years. Read about the following article Immigrants Hardest Hit by New York Foreclosures by Leticia Carvalho on EforeclosureMagazine.com - Your online source for foreclosure articles.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.realestateproarticles.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites