10% Of Homeowners Just Missed A Mortgage Payment

The Mortgage Bankers Association says that if you just missed a morgage payment, you’re not alone — 10% of homeowners just did the same thing.

Despite that somber-sounding news, the association’s chief economist, Jay Brinkmann, says that the foreclosure crisis does not appear to be getting worse. The trouble is that it’s not exactly improving either.

“I don’t see signs now that it’s getting worse, but it’s going to take a while,” he said. “A bad situation that’s not getting worse is still bad.”

Most troubling is the fact that the crises has moved from bad mortgages to a crisis of unemployment and reduced income. Borrowers with good credit who took out fixed-rate loans are now the fastest growing group of foreclosures, says USAToday:

Economic woes, such as unemployment or reduced income, are the main catalysts for foreclosures this year. Initially, lax lending standards were the culprit. But homeowners with good credit who took out conventional, fixed-rate loans are now the fastest growing group of foreclosures.

Those borrowers made up nearly 37% of new foreclosures in the first quarter of the year, up from 29% a year earlier.

10% of homeowners missed a mortgage payment in Q1 [USAToday]

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