D.C. area foreclosures double year-over-year

From last Wednesday's Washington Post:

The number of Washington area homeowners in foreclosure has more that doubled in the past year, according to a report to be released Wednesday that shows the problem remains most acute in a few counties and could get worse as more borrowers fall behind on their payments.

About 2.7 percent of local borrowers are in the foreclosure process, meaning that the bank has started the legal process to take back the property, according to the report by the Urban Institute, a nonprofit policy research group based in Washington. That was slightly below the national average of 2.9 percent.

But that is up from about 1.4 percent in June 2008 and 0.5 percent in June 2007, according to the report. (The report excludes Howard and Anne Arundel counties.) ...

But the problem is far worse in three counties: Prince George's, where 5.2 percent of borrowers are in foreclosure; Charles with 3.9 percent; and Prince William with 3.7 percent. These areas had high concentrations of minority borrowers who were more likely to take out subprime loans, according to the report.