Government-owned foreclose houses are getting stronger in numbers in Michigan. Both the state’s foreclosure crisis and poor economy are being blamed for the abundance of government-owned foreclosed houses in the area.

A scatter map by the “USA Today” showed that about 50,000 foreclosed properties in the state are owned by government mortgage insurers, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The scatter map also showed a heavy concentration of HUD and VA owned foreclosure homes in lower Michigan area and the Midwest.

Meanwhile, a breakout map of the city of Detroit showed four or more HUD foreclosed houses in some neighborhoods. Coldwell Banker Hoppough and Associates HUD broker Cathy Hoppough said that the statistics are not surprising. She explained that most homeowners could not afford to make mortgage payments, adding that even if the banks are willing to work with them, if they do not have any job or means of income, they could not pay their loans.

Majority of government repossessed homes were taken over by the HUD and VA when their homeowners defaulted on government-supported mortgages. Sometimes, the government repossessed on loans it issued or took over distressed houses from private lenders.

The almost 50,000 government-owned foreclosure properties do not include properties foreclosed by federally chartered mortgage companies, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. and Federal National Mortgage Association.

Both VA and HUD are trying to expedite the sale of foreclosure homes in their inventory by offering them at below market value. However, price cuts may take their toll on these agencies in terms of losses.

HUD had lost 39 centavos on the dollar for each foreclosed house it sold in 2008. On its part, VA lost approximately 13 centavos on the dollar for each property it sold.

And while home sales in Michigan continue to surge the previous year, the prices of properties kept on sliding. In April, the average home sale price was $97,073, a decline of 29 percent from the previous year.

Statewide, the foreclosure crisis in Michigan increased by 12 percent in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year. Filings for foreclose houses reached a total of 33,184 in the first three months of this year, a decline of 2 percent from the last quarter of 2008.