St Louis Mortgage Refinancing and Real Estate News –
News: Mortgage Delinquencies Continue to Rise According to TransUnion
Statistics recently reported to the public state 6.89 percent of mortgage payments were 60 days or more past due in the fourth quarter of 2009 according to TransUnion.
This percentage was up from 4.58 percent in the final three months of 2008. The previous record delinquency rate for mortgages was 6.25 percent in the third quarter of 2009.
Part of the blame for the fourth-quarter uptick was due in part to normal seasonal spending shifts which ended the year on a fiscal sour note.
F.J. Guarrera, the Vice-President of TransUnion’s financial services business unit explained that more consumers have trouble paying their bills because of year end holiday spending.
The major concern Guarrera has is if mortgage delinquency percents continue to go higher in 2010, then our economy may be heading towards more financial diaster.
He continues: “To see continuing growth in the first quarter would certainly raise an eyebrow.”
TransUnion tracks mortgages that are two months in arrears as a warning indicator that the consumer may be heading for a potential foreclosure.
The reasoning is this makes it more difficult for the delinquent homeowner to come up with three payments to bring an account current.
The credit depository company said the delinquency rate were the highest in Nevada, at 16.2 percent and Florida, at 14.9 percent.
The other two states hit hardest by the housing debacle is Arizona and California. They were third and fourth, at 11.3 percent and 11 percent respectively.
Another potential crisis that is looming are homeowners who are waiting for their adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs written in late 2006 or early 2007) to reset to higher rates in coming months.
That may very well drive foreclosure numbers even higher, especially in areas where home prices have fallen to the point where values are lower than mortgages.
As Guarrera succintly put it: “We’re not out of the woods yet.”
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