Central Florida City Dealing With 15-Percent Foreclosure Rate

Poinciana is Central Florida's foreclosure city. The foreclosure crisis is hitting communities across the country, but it's especially bad in the planned community on the edge of Osceola County (see map) where roughly one out of every seven houses is empty because of foreclosure.

Tall grass is one of the telltale signs of foreclosure in Poinciana, where nearly 15 percent of homes are in foreclosure. The homes are not only crying out to vandals, but they're digging a huge hole in the homeowner's association budget.

"It's been like that for the last three or four months," said Poinciana Villages resident Wilfredo Ramos.

Ramos' neighbors disappeared months ago and no one has touched the house next door since, no mowers, no maintenance and no trash clean up.

"It doesn't look right. It doesn't look good. People come around and see all the garbage. It's not good for the neighbors, no," he said.

On just one street, Eyewitness News found at least five of about 30 houses abandoned. It's typical in Poinciana now, where almost 15-percent of homes are in foreclosure.

"While a home is in foreclosure, ownership becomes a little bit gray," said resident Jeannette Coughenour, who manages the Poinciana Villages homeowner's association.

Coughenour says there is little that can be done with an overgrown property during the months-long foreclosure process now impacting more than 1,300 of Poinciana's 19,000 homes. Beyond that, the homes are targets for teens who break in and thieves who steal anything.

And, when homeowners abandon properties, association dues go unpaid. For the association of Poinciana Villages, that means $600,000 this year alone. For perspective, that's almost what it takes to keep the street lights burning in the community.

Even if you're not facing foreclosure, the housing market is probably impacting you in a bad way. A new report out Tuesday shows home values are plummeting in Central Florida. Prices in the area fell an average of 19-percent in the past year. That's for than the national average.

People who live in Celebration are the biggest losers. Their homes lost 26.4-percent of their value. Orlando homes lost 17.6-percent. Winter Park homes lost 16-percent.