Maryland Foreclosures in Perspective

Realtytrac has perhaps the best foreclosure information in the U.S. Today, we tap into its hulking database to put Maryland’s foreclosure crisis in perspective.


One of Realtytrac’s many functions is its ability to track foreclosures by county. The map above shows foreclosure rates by Maryland county (measured by total housing units per foreclosure) in September 2008. Here’s how Maryland’s counties stack up:

Prince George’s: 1 in 338
Frederick: 1 in 696
Charles: 1 in 704
Washington: 1 in 1,106
Baltimore City: 1 in 1,179
Calvert: 1 in 1,234
Anne Arundel: 1 in 1,267
Howard: 1 in 1,447
Montgomery: 1 in 1,467
Carroll: 1 in 1,526
Kent: 1 in 1,737
Queen Anne’s: 1 in 1,916
Baltimore County: 1 in 2,037
Harford: 1 in 2,150
Caroline: 1 in 2,229
Allegany: 1 in 3,312
Dorchester: 1 in 4,033
Wicomico: 1 in 4,377
Cecil: 1 in 4,967
Somerset: 1 in 5,396
Garrett: 1 in 6,190
St. Mary’s: 1 in 10,035
Talbot: 1 in 19,247
Worcester: 1 in 53,372


Above is a close-up view of one of the most intense foreclosure spots in the state: Montgomery Village. This map shows 206 foreclosed properties in about nine square miles.


Northern Virginia has been hit much harder than Maryland. Here are foreclosure rates for those jurisdictions:

Manassas City: 1 in 68
Prince William County: 1 in 87
Fairfax City: 1 in 111
Culpeper County: 1 in 189
Stafford County: 1 in 195
Loudoun County: 1 in 200
Warren County: 1 in 265
Fairfax County: 1 in 271
Orange County: 1 in 272
Spotsylvania County: 1 in 277
Frederick County: 1 in 292
Winchester City: 1 in 348
Fauquier County: 1 in 370
Alexandria City: 1 in 944
Arlington County: 1 in 1,142
Clarke County: 1 in 1,237


Nationwide, the worst foreclosure rates are in Nevada, California, Arizona, Florida and Colorado, in that order. Here are the hardest-hit counties (or independent cities) in the U.S.

Merced County, CA: 1 in 60
Clark County, NV: 1 in 65
Manassas City, VA: 1 in 68
Osceola County, FL: 1 in 68
San Benito County, CA: 1 in 69
Lee County, FL: 1 in 71
Madera County, CA: 1 in 76
Prince William County, VA: 1 in 87
San Joaquin County, CA: 1 in 88
Riverside County, CA: 1 in 90
Stanislaus County, CA: 1 in 92

I guess you can see this in one of two ways. An optimist would say that our problems are not as bad as some other places around the country. A pessimist would say that our problems could get a lot worse!