Indiana is the top 14th US state in terms of high volume of foreclosed homes as of October 2008, based on data released by RealtyTrac. The number has been rising for quite some time or since the housing industry slump started in 2007. It is not surprising that the volume of Indiana foreclosure homes has been on the upward trend. Not unique to the state, foreclosed home transactions are directly influenced by the rising number of unemployment.

When it comes to employment, the state still is not hitting the negative side. But it is quite apparent that many people are losing jobs, especially these days when there is an economic slowdown in the US. Particularly, Indiana is affected by the weakening of General Motors, the large US car manufacturer. In record, the company has been the state's biggest employer. There were up to 40,000 employees under the payroll of GM in the state before the economic crisis. As of October 2008, GM only employs just about 5,600 workers, mostly in Fort Wayne, Bedford, Marion and Indianapolis. Now that GM is facing risks and the possibility of a bankruptcy, more employees are set and expected to further lose jobs.

As GM gets further into trouble, more jobs are to be lost in Indiana. That means, more households will default on their mortgages, and eventually, more homes are to be repossessed and foreclosed. If the people of Indiana were having chills about imagining a possible failure of GM decades ago, now that it is near actually happening, imagine how chills are getting into their spines.

As the number of Indiana foreclosure homes increase, more families are being displaced and forced out of homes. Such families are forced to rent out houses. Homebuyers and investors are seeing opportunities in this. No wonder, many Indiana foreclosure homes are snapped up by buyers and turned out to be rental units, amid an increasing demand for such dwellings for lease.