COLUMBUS — Ohio's home foreclosure crisis, already a near-epidemic in some urban neighborhoods, has moved to the suburbs.

A new report released Thursday showed that 73 percent of the subprime loans that have ignited the crisis were made in middle and upper income areas – often suburbs – in 2005 and just 27 percent of the loans were made in low- and moderate-income areas.

"Foreclosures are no longer (just) an urban problem," said Paul Bellamy, who worked on the report for the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio. "They've moved to the suburbs."

Typically, subprime loans are made to borrowers with blemished credit and sometimes are made without considering the borrower's ability to pay, the report said. Overall, subprime loans account for just 18 percent of all outstanding Ohio mortgages but for 63 percent of the foreclosure starts, the report said.

These subprime loans often are made with adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs). They have low interest rates for the first two or three years and then the rates surge to much higher rates.

At least $14 billion in adjustable rate "teaser rate" loans will be reset in Ohio in 2007 and 2008, which could create another surge in foreclosures and affect at least 200,000 homeowners, the report said.

Other findings from the report:

•Nationally, Ohio has the second highest rate of loans in "serious delinquency" — either in foreclosure or more than 90 days late. Ohio's 5.12 percent rate is behind only Mississippi, 5.3 percent, and just ahead of third place Louisiana, 4.98 percent, two states devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

•Inflated appraisals and high loan-to-value mortgages have increased debt problems. In 2006, 24 percent of ARM borrowers getting new loans owed more than the value of their home at the loan's origination.

The study expands on a report issued earlier this week by Policy Matters Ohio, a Cleveland-based research institute, that showed foreclosure filings jumped by nearly a quarter last year in Ohio, the largest increase in recent history.

The number of filings in 2006 – 79,000 – marked an almost fivefold increase over 2005. Warren County had the sharpest increase among eight Dayton region counties, with foreclosure filings increasing more than ninefold since 1995.

The report also showed that Montgomery County had the second highest foreclosure filing rate last year – 9.4 per 1,000 people – behind only Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland.

Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1608 or whershey@DaytonDailyNews.com.