Mortgages Behind On Payments Increases, But Rate Has Slowed
Not really good news but I guess you would categorize it as less bad news.
Credit reporting agency TransUnion said today that in the three months ended June 30, the number of mortgage holders 60 days or more behind on their payments was 6.67%, Tuesday. That’s a big jump from 5.81% in the second quarter of last year, and well above the historical norm of 1.5% to 2%. One positive sign is that the statistic reveals a slower rate of increase from the pace seen a year ago. What’s more, it marks a marginal improvement from the rate of 6.77% recorded during the first three months of the year. It’s also below the 6.89% record reached in the fourth quarter of 2009. “We’re seeing signs of recovering in terms of delinquency,” said FJ Guarrera, vice president in TransUnion’s financial services unit.
The data comes days after foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said the number of U.S. homes lost to foreclosure in July surged 6% from last year. That jump indicates that more banks stepped up repossessions to clear out their backlog of bad loans. ”A lot of foreclosures continue to work their way through the system,” Guarrera said. Although the delinquency data does look back a few months, it shows a slight improvement that could indicate foreclosures will start to slow, he said. Witness to that there were 12 states that showed increased delinquency rates in the second quarter, whereas a year ago the figure worsened in nearly every state, Guarrera said. Driving up the national rate are the four states hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis: Nevada, Florida, Arizona and California. In each of these, the rate is above 10%, with Nevada leading at 15.86%, compared to 13.8% a year ago. In Florida, the delinquency rate rose to 15%, from 12.3% last year. The rates in Georgia, New Jersey, Maryland and Illinois are also above the national average. North and South Dakota remain at the low end for the nation, at 1.61% and 2.23%, respectively. Some states, however, have more trouble ahead, including Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, and Nevada: The rate is expected to start falling by the end of this year, but remain above 10% through 2012.
