More homeowners than ever are having trouble making their monthly mortgage payments, according to figures released Thursday. The figures underlined the level of stress on a large segment of the country, a situation that could put out the modest recovery in home prices over the last few months and impede any economic rebound.
The overall third-quarter delinquency rate is the highest since the association began keeping records in 1972. Nearly one in 10 homeowners with mortgages was at least one payment behind in the third quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in its survey. It is up from about one in 14 mortgage holders in the third quarter of 2008.
The combined percentage of those in foreclosure as well as delinquent homeowners is 14.41 percent, or about one in seven mortgage holders. Mortgages with problems are concentrated in four states: California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada.
In the first stage of the housing collapse, defaults and foreclosures were driven by subprime loans. As the subprime tide recedes, high-quality prime loans with fixed rates make up the largest share of new foreclosures. A third of the new foreclosures begun in the third quarter were this type of loan, traditionally considered the safest. Without jobs, borrowers usually cannot pay their mortgages.
In previous recessions, homeowners who lost their jobs could sell the house and move somewhere with better prospects, or at least a cheaper cost of living. This time around, many of the unemployed are finding that the value of their property is less than they owe.
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