68 THE QUEENS COURIER • QUEENS BUSINESS • OCTOBER 12, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
real estate
Double-digit spike in foreclosures across Queens: report
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @AngelaMatua
A new report by real estate website
PropertyShark found that fi rst-time
home foreclosures in Queens are up 27
percent since last year.
Queens has consistently struggled with
a high number of home foreclosures.
Last year, 227 were scheduled for auction
during the third quarter of 2016. Th is
year, 288 properties were scheduled for
auction, more than any other borough.
Th e area codes 11434 and 11412,
Jamaica and St. Albans, reported the
largest number of fi rst-time foreclosures
with 29 and 21, respectively.
Th ough the number of foreclosures
has increased year-over-year, fi rst-time
foreclosures in the borough decreased
since last quarter, when 388 homes were
scheduled for foreclosure.
Last year, city offi cials announced
the Community Restoration Program,
where the city will purchase 24 distressed
mortgages for one- to four-family homes
— or 41 residential units — in the Bronx,
Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island.
“We are fi ghting to help homeowners
stay in the neighborhoods they helped
build. And we won’t let predators force
them out,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a
statement. “Th e Community Restoration
Program is the fi rst of its kind, and it
puts government squarely on the side
of struggling families so they can keep
their homes.”
Th e $13 million program is being funded
with $1 million allocated by the City
Council and $6.9 million from Goldman
Sachs’ Urban Investment Group.
A $2.2 million grant from the Local
Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)
and $2.9 million in funds received from
Morgan Stanley as part of their settlement
obtained by the New York State
Attorney General will also fund the program.
Single- and two-family homes have
seen the highest increases in fi rst-time
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
A large number of foreclosed Queens properties
are up for auction.
home foreclosures during this quarter.
First-time foreclosures in all fi ve boroughs
increased a whopping 79 percent
year-over-year. According to the report,
89 homes were scheduled in quarter 3
this year compared to 481 homes last
year.
Charts via PropertyShark