Last year, Detroit led the United States in foreclosures, with close to 5 percent of its households entering some stage of foreclosure, according to RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure listings.
That number was nearly five times the national average, and almost double the number of foreclosures in Detroit in 2006.
But every cloud has a silver lining. Just ask Ralph R. Roberts, a top real estate agent in Detroit who says he has personally bought and sold more than 2,000 foreclosed properties during his career.
"This could be a great time to buy a home - if you have the resources," he said.
Roberts, who is the author of Foreclosure Investing for Dummies and Flipping Houses for Dummies, said in a recent interview that he believes that more than 6 million families are in distress nationwide.
"Maybe 1 or 2 million are behind in their mortgages, and more have received their foreclosure notice," he said. "But 2 million families will lose their homes this year."
