I do not want to be a Negative Norman (the distant cousin of Debbie Downer) but I am getting real sick of reading about how strong the economy is especially when I am getting calls every day from folks fearing the loss of their home. Foreclosures appear to be going up and my ringing phone is not the only clue.

According to a press release issued this morning by ForeclosuresNH, a foreclosure reporting service in New Hampshire, the percentage of foreclosed properties in the Granite State that were purchased or refinanced in the last two years has gone from 28 percent to 52 percent. The increase is apparently traced back to homeowners who could not get traditional fixed rate mortgages, and instead were able to obtain financing for their homes with interest-only, adjustable-rate or discounted-rate mortgages. ForeclosuresNH also concedes that another factor contributing to this trend is a (for now) slowly cooling housing market.

Earlier this week, WLNS News 6 in Lansing, Michigan reported that foreclosures in that state have doubled in the past year. That’s right. Doubled.

Is it a trend? Based on the way my telephone has been ringing lately, I have to wonder. So I have decided that as I run into news about foreclosure rates nationwide, I’ll post it here. If you have news or questions you want to share, feel free to send me a note by clicking “Contact Us” in the margin to the right. If you have any thoughts you want to share on what you think is going on with the housing market, feel free to share those with me too.

Keep checking back.