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Mortgage default rates set another record

Mortgage Bankers Association today released a report that revealed 12 percent of borrowers with home loans are behind on their payments or in foreclosure, setting a record that is a 36 basis point increase from just one year ago.

In fact, it’s the highest seasonally adjusted rate since the MBA National Delinquency Survey began tracking defaults in 1972.

Here’s a snip from Jay Brinkmann, MBA chief economist, on the sobering findings:

“The increase in the foreclosure number is sobering but not unexpected. The rate of foreclosure starts remained essentially flat for the last three quarters of 2008 and we suspected that the numbers were artificially low due to various state and local moratoria, the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac halt on foreclosures, and various company-level moratoria. Now that the guidelines of the administration’s loan modification programs are known, combined with the large number of vacant homes with past due mortgages, the pace of foreclosures has stepped up considerably.”

The report confirms that adjustable rate mortgages (ARM) that have re-set to higher interest rates and rising unemployment figures are likely the two key contributing factors behind the spike. And it’s being felt the most in Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada, which remain the hardest hit states in the nation, accounting for nearly half (46 percent) of all new foreclosure filings.

For information on foreclosure assistance remember that professional consultants can be reached right here. It’s free help. To check out the latest on the “Making Home Affordable” program and see if it will work for you go here.