The Housing Chronicles Blog: 1 in 10 homeowners with a mortgage now behind on payments

Friday, December 5, 2008

1 in 10 homeowners with a mortgage now behind on payments

A record 10% of homeowners with mortgages are either behind on their payments or in the process of foreclosure. On the bright side, 90% are current! From an AP story via MSNBC:

A record one in 10 American homeowners with a mortgage were either at least a month behind on their payments or in foreclosure at the end of September as the source of housing market pressure shifted from risky loans to the crumbling U.S. economy.

The percentage of loans at least a month overdue or in foreclosure was up from 9.2 percent in the April-June quarter, and up from 7.3 percent a year earlier, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Friday...

With the economy worsening, the much-anticipated bottom of the housing market likely will be pushed further into the future.

"Things are going to get worse before they get better," said Northern Virginia housing economist Thomas Lawler.

Most troubling, he said, is that the mortgage bankers' report reflects conditions before October's stock market plunge and the resulting economic fallout.

"The number of homes that are in the foreclosure process is so high — right before the economy has fallen off a cliff," Lawler said...

Click here for full story.

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