Foreclosing on the American Dream

Pages from The Charlotte Observer series "Foreclosing on the American Dream," Jan. 15, 17-18, 2006. Images may be large, so please be patient.

Day 1: Rise in foreclosures	1A 8A 9A 1D 5D
Day 2: Damage to a neighborhood	1A 10A
Day 3: Some cities do more to help	1A 8A

Charlotte.com's Foreclosing on the American Dream website, including an interactive map to view foreclosures by neighborhood.

Series summary and major findings
Foreclosures have quadrupled since 1999 in Mecklenburg County, and more than doubled across North Carolina.

Factors include easy credit policies of the last decade, ineffective government oversight and flat prices for starter homes.

Foreclosures often are concentrated in newer starter home neighborhoods, and they can depress resale prices for all neighborhood homes.