More than 10% of homeowners missed at least one mortgage payment Jan-Mar2010

[Liberal_in_LA]

Mortgage delinquencies drag on economic recovery
By ALAN ZIBEL, AP Real Estate Writer

Wednesday, May 19, 2010
(05-19) 10:54 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --

The mortgage crisis is dragging on the economic recovery as more homeowners fall behind on their payments.

Analysts expect improvement soon, but the number of homeowners in default or at risk of foreclosure will have a lingering effect on the broader economy.

More than 10 percent of homeowners had missed at least one mortgage payment in the January-March period, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday. That's a record high and up from 9.5 percent in the fourth quarter of last year and 9.1 percent a year earlier.

A big jump in the number of borrowers who have missed three months of mortgage payments drove the increase.

There was one encouraging sign: The number of homeowners just starting to show trouble is trending downward as the economy improves. As of March, nearly 3.5 percent of homeowners had missed one month of mortgage payments, down from about 3.8 percent a year earlier.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/05/19/financial/f070039D62.DTL#ixzz0oPCZraTY

[Statistical]

1. More than 10% of Americans are out of work.

Coincidence?