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Foreclosed, delinquent mortgages reach record high
The proportion of U.S. mortgages in foreclosure or at least one payment past due reached a record high during the fourth quarter, according to industry data provided by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
The combination of loans in foreclosure and one payment in arrears reached 15.02 percent on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the highest figure ever recorded in the survey.
Despite the high proportion, the delinquency rates for mortgages on one-to-four-unit residential properties fell to a seasonally adjusted rate of 9.47 percent of all loans outstanding as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2009, down from 9.64 percent during the third quarter.
According to Jay Brinkmann, MBA chief economist, "This drop in the delinquency rate is good news and shows that the problem may not get much bigger. But it is still a big problem."
The combination of loans in foreclosure and one payment in arrears reached 15.02 percent on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the highest figure ever recorded in the survey.
Despite the high proportion, the delinquency rates for mortgages on one-to-four-unit residential properties fell to a seasonally adjusted rate of 9.47 percent of all loans outstanding as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2009, down from 9.64 percent during the third quarter.
According to Jay Brinkmann, MBA chief economist, "This drop in the delinquency rate is good news and shows that the problem may not get much bigger. But it is still a big problem."
