Staten Island’s foreclosure rates rising

Staten Island, the borough with the highest rate of homeownership, had the highest rate of subprime mortgages in the city at the end of 2007, and the second highest rate of foreclosures in the first quarter. The median price for single-family homes rose to $427,000 in 2005 from $224,000 in 1995, according to the NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. But the median income only increased $14,000 during that time, leaving many home buyers to rely on subprime loans. In its March issue, The Real Deal reported on Staten Island’s housing problems.