More than 13 percent of American homeowners with a mortgage have fallen behind on their payments or are in foreclosure. The record numbers released by the Mortgage Bankers Association are being driven by borrowers with traditional fixed-rate mortgages, rather than subprime loans with adjustable rates, reported the Associated Press. As of June, more than 4 percent of all borrowers were in foreclosure, while about 9 percent had missed at least one payment. Meanwhile, new jobless claims rose last week to a seasonally adjusted 576,000, the Labor Department said yesterday. While the recession, measured by the nation’s total economic output, is likely over, most economists expect layoffs and foreclosures to keep rising for many months as companies remain in cost-cutting mode. The worst levels of delinquencies are concentrated in California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida, which accounted for 44 percent of new foreclosures in the country. Nearly 12 percent of all loans in Florida were in foreclosure, the highest in the country, followed by Nevada at 9 percent.
Mortgage Delinquencies Hit Record Q2 High
As of June, more than four percent of all borrowers were in foreclosure, with nearly nine percent missing at least one payment.
August 21, 2009