Long Island's home foreclosure crisis

The national housing crisis has hit a little too close to home. On Long Island, foreclosure rates have soared through the roof, with rates rising 50 percent in Suffolk County and nearly 34 percent in Nassau County. In May, there were 919 foreclosure filings on Long Island, compared with just 652 last May.

While foreclosure rates have recently fallen by 4 percent nationwide, they continue to rise on Long Island, leaving families without homes and decreasing property values. Real estate experts in the area anticipate that the recent foreclosure rate will affect property values for the next 18 months.

This is a bad omen. Home ownership has always been one of the cornerstones of living on Long Island. While foreclosure rates have improved in other areas, the mortgage situation on Long Island is quickly getting worse. This is a key indicator for Long Islanders that, overall, things are not getting any better.

New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and a panel of Long Island economists explained that while Long Island is surviving the economic downturn, there has been a structural change in the region’s economy. According to an article in the Long Island Business News, studies suggest that the region is transforming into a service-sector economy, which tends to offer lower-paying jobs. The manufacturing and construction industries, which at one point flourished here, are suffering and are forced into layoffs.

“The export base declined,” said economist Tom Conoscenti. “The manufacturing base of this region has declined. The resilience of the Island has slowed down.”

The good news is that there are still opportunities to bring jobs into the region. The number of jobs on Long Island grew by 0.8 percent in May and 1.6 percent since April. However, again, these lower-paying, service-sector jobs rarely spin off meaningful secondary jobs.

While this gives struggling homeowners some reason to be optimistic, it is really only a quick fix. People need jobs, and on Long Island, where property and school taxes are among the highest in the nation, that includes more than just service jobs.