Foreclosures Causing West Nile?

By: Amy Bohutinsky, Zillow VP of Communications | August 20, 2007

That headline makes me feel like a tabloid reporter, but according to Friday’s San Diego Union-Tribune, it’s not too hard to connect the dots between the increasing number of foreclosures in Southern California and more cases of potentially deadly West Nile Virus reported this year.

The article (hat tip to REALTOR Magazine Online for highlighting today) talks about what happens to swimming pools when homes are abandoned (i.e., they turn green and gross and start to hatch mosquitos). Potentially tens of thousands of mosquito larvae begin to accumulate and breed in pools that are left unattended, creating a perfect breeding ground for the West Nile Virus, which is then passed from mosquitos, to birds, to humans. Southern California has more swimming pools than anywhere else in the country, so this theory starts to make sense.

California alone is seeing three times the West Nile cases in humans now versus a year ago. Meanwhile, numerous sources report rising numbers of foreclosures in California and elsewhere as the housing market cools, mortgage rates rise and homeowners feel the tight squeeze. Not a pretty scene.

Yikes.

Stumble it!
Categories: Real Estate, Real Estate Oddities, Zillow

Comments

7 Comments so far

Free Foreclosure Help on February 27, 2008 10:36 pm

This summer we will see the West Nile virus spreading as a result of the empty foreclosure homes and half filled pools.
Real Estate Resource on March 26, 2008 8:27 pm

Bad news to the homeowners. Can’t they do something about this?

-Jan
Tax Lien Properties on April 26, 2008 8:19 am

I have a real problem with the government taking money out of my check to give to someone that made a bad choice and bought more house than they can afford. I also have a problem with my tax dollars being used to bail out billion dollar corporations.

There is a thing called personal choice and people should be responsible for it.
Fish for Foreclosures | Zillow® Blog on May 12, 2008 3:22 pm

[...] Last summer I posted on an unsanitary (and sometimes dangerous) side effect of foreclosed homes in warm climates — abandoned swimming pools. These pools, when not drained of water, become infested with mosquitoes, which in turn [...]
See Something Weird? Probably Related to Foreclosure | Zillow® Blog on May 13, 2008 9:04 am

[...] Foreclosed homes with pools become a breeding ground for West Nile Virus [...]
Pests Make Themselves at Home in Foreclosures | Zillow® Blog on September 9, 2008 3:16 pm

[...] summer, Amy wrote about how California had been seeing a rise in cases of West Nile virus linked to foreclosed homes with swimming pools. As this CBS News report says, this alarming trend is still going strong. Plus, there has also been [...]
Joanne G. Apat on January 3, 2010 8:45 am

I wonder what’s the percentage rate of foreclosures now since recession took its toll?