Is B.C.'s economy insulated from a U.S. recession?

While Midwestern cities, including Cleveland and Detroit, were the hardest hit areas last year in terms of foreclosures, it seems the trend has now moved on to other areas. The booming city of Las Vegas is now considered to be at the epicenter of the foreclosure crisis in America, a shift that began at the end of 2007.

According to statistics compiled by CNNMoney.com and RealtyTrac, seven of the top 100 worst-hit zip codes from December 2007 were in Sin City. Subprime mortgage loans were particularly prevalent in Las Vegas, and typically default at far higher rates than traditional, fixed-rate mortgages.

The hardest hit zip code was 89031 in North Las Vegas, with a total of 741 filings in December. These filings include default notices, auction notices, and bank repossessions. read more