Number of foreclosures rising in B.C.

Foreclosures are soaring in B.C., according to a man who tracks mortgage defaults on his website.

Kap Hiroti said that over the past two years, the number of foreclosures have risen from about 10 a week to as many as 30 per week.

In the last year alone, there have been 1,800 foreclosures, he said. Falling property values have contributed to the surge.

"They just really didn't think that property values will go down so dramatically and so soon," Hiroti said. "They thought they would be able to cover those expenses in the short-term and possibly refinance in the future with the appreciation in the property gained, and reduce their interest rates."

Hiroti predicts the number will continue to rise, as people with low down payments and high-interest mortgages try to renew.

"[Lenders] don't want to renew those mortgages anymore.  And that's causing an issue because if they don't want to renew those mortgages, the borrower has to go out and find another lender that is willing to lend … there may not be a lender that is willing to lend."

Hiroti said in nearly half the foreclosure cases he has seen, property owners have subprime-style mortgages, with extremely high interest rates that in some cases are 10 per cent or higher.