West Virginia Pre-Foreclosures: A Quiet Crisis in a Steady Market

Understanding the Numbers Behind the Properties

In September 2024, 29 homes in West Virginia entered pre-foreclosure, a quiet statistic that can be easy to skim past but carries the full weight of economic distress for the families behind each number. This figure marks an 11.54% increase from August’s total of 26 homes, reflecting a modest but notable month-over-month rise. Compared to September 2023, this year’s total is down by 9.38%, suggesting that West Virginia’s housing market, while still fragile, isn’t in free fall. Not yet.

Behind these statistics lies a more complex picture: one of longstanding economic vulnerability deepened by rising inflation, widening income inequality, and a lack of affordable housing. For many West Virginians, homeownership comes with the weight of generational sacrifice, and losing that can mean far more than a change of address.

From Boom to Burden: The Long View on Foreclosures in West Virginia

To understand today’s numbers, it’s crucial to look at the historical context. In the mid-2000s, West Virginia had relatively few pre-foreclosures, just 27 cases in 2005. But then the Great Recession hit, and numbers surged. In 2007, there were 717 pre-foreclosures; in 2009, 664. These were the years when families across the state saw their home values plummet and employment opportunities vanish. Foreclosure, once a rare and catastrophic event, became a bitterly common story.

Since then, pre-foreclosure rates dropped dramatically. In 2011, only 21 homes were at risk. The intervening years brought some stability, with figures generally hovering in the low hundreds. A brief uptick in 2016 brought the count to 276 homes, followed by an unexplained dip as low as 8 cases in 2017 and a near freeze in 2019 with just a single recorded case.

But 2023 saw an unsettling return to form, with 492 pre-foreclosure filings, comparable to figures from the Great Recession-era lows. As of September 2024, with 272 cases year-to-date, the state is on track to finish the year slightly below last year’s total. Steady, perhaps. But stable? That’s a harder claim to make.

The Slow Grind of Economic Pressure

The jump from 26 to 29 pre-foreclosures in a single month might not seem dramatic. But for families on the brink, those extra three filings represent three more stories of economic strain. After all, pre-foreclosure is not just a legal process, it’s a life event. It usually begins with one missed mortgage payment and escalates into a complex battle with debt, loss, and uncertain futures.

Many homeowners entering pre-foreclosure today are not reckless spenders or homeowners with speculative investments but working-class families caught somewhere between stagnant wages and rising costs. Inflation has made it harder to budget for the basics. Meanwhile, the state’s job market, though resilient in certain sectors, remains limited, especially in rural counties where job opportunities are sparse and public infrastructure is aging.

Sharon Williams, a 59-year-old renter-turned-homeowner in the eastern panhandle, said she’s now three months behind on her mortgage after her diabetic husband lost his job at a local furniture factory. “We’ve done everything right,” she said. “Saved, worked hard, stayed in the same house for twenty years. But when prices keep going up and your income doesn’t, there’s only so long you can go before slipping.”

Low-Income Families at Highest Risk

The brunt of pre-foreclosure continues to fall hardest on the state’s lowest-income residents. While West Virginia boasts one of the country’s highest homeownership rates, many of these homes are modest and purchased on thin financial margins. A single emergency; medical, mechanical, or occupational, is often enough to cause a cascade of missed payments.

Affordable housing remains in critical short supply. Interest rates have climbed in the past year, following efforts to tame inflation, making refinancing a home increasingly unaffordable. Even those who are employed full-time find themselves living paycheck-to-paycheck. For rural communities that lack access to financial institutions, legal aid, or foreclosure prevention counseling, the options are even more limited.