Foreclosure rate rises to highest since 1979

June 6, 2008

Homes in foreclosure and homes entering the foreclosure process are up to levels not seen since 1979 reported the MBA today. For those that say we’re coming to the bottom, I say either you’re full of it or we’re picking up speed for a nasty crash landing in to the bottom - either way it ain’t go to be pretty. Oh, and the total percentage of mortgages in some form of delinquency (excluding foreclosure) is also at it’s highest point since 1979 - so it doesn’t look like making your mortgage payment has gotten any easier, no matter who you are.

From Market Watch:

he percentage of loans in the foreclosure process at the end of the first quarter rose to 2.47% of all mortgages outstanding on one- to four-unit properties, up from 2.04% in the fourth quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Delinquency Survey, released on Thursday. Loans entering the foreclosure process in the first quarter rose to a seasonally adjusted 0.99%, up from 0.83% in the fourth quarter. Both the rate of foreclosure starts and the percent of loans in the foreclosure process were the highest recorded since 1979, according to the group. The seasonally adjusted delinquency rate for mortgage loans also was the highest since 1979, with 6.35% of all loans at least one payment past due during the first quarter, up from 5.82% in the fourth quarter.

Update: More from the New York Times

The drop in home prices, which has affected a broad swath of the nation’s housing market, has left many homeowners paying mortgages worth more than their own homes. The housing slump is the worst of its kind since the recession of the early 1990s.

The mortgage problems were worst for homeowners who took out subprime loans, which are usually issued to applicants with less-than-pristine credit histories. But even borrowers with solid credit records have not been immune.

“While the foreclosure start rates were up for all types of mortgages, a reflection of the decline in home prices, the magnitude of the national increases is clearly driven by certain loan types and certain states,” said Jay Brinkmann, the group’s vice president for research and economics.

For example, he said, subprime adjustable rate mortgages represent 6 percent of the loans outstanding but 39 percent of the foreclosures in the quarter. Prime adjusted loans represented 15 percent of the loans, but 23 percent of the foreclosures started.

“Out of the approximately 516,000 foreclosures started during the first quarter,” Mr. Brinkmann said “subprime ARM loans accounted for about 195,000 and prime ARM loans 117,000.”

Four states — Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada — accounted for about 89 percent of the foreclosures, a disproportionately high amount of the newly reported figures. Those regions have suffered the sharpest price drops.

Share This

Posted in RSS