According to Bloomberg, foreclosure starts climbed in the Washington D.C. suburbs last month following federal budget cuts that made it harder for former government employees to pay their monthly mortgages.
Initial foreclosure filings climbed 144 percent from August in Fairfax County, Virginia, and more than doubled in Prince William, Loudoun and Fauquier counties, the real estate research firm said today. Fairfax’s jump was the biggest nationally among counties with populations of 1 million or more.
“There is no question that the sequester has had an impact on the economy in Washington,” Brian O’Reilly, president of Collingwood Group, said. “And against the backdrop of the current shutdown, I would say it would not be a surprise to anyone to see continued softening in this area.”
