Foreclosures break another record in first quarter
Mortgage defaults won’t slow until employment improves: MBA economist
A record percentage of U.S. mortgages entered foreclosure in the first quarter, and the jump in foreclosure starts compared with the fourth quarter was the biggest leap ever recorded in the Mortgage Bankers Association’s survey, released on Thursday.
According to the MBA’s quarterly National Delinquency Survey, 1.37% of mortgages entered the foreclosure process in the first quarter, up from 1.08% in the fourth quarter.
Total foreclosure inventory was also up, with 3.85% of all mortgages somewhere in the foreclosure process at the end of the first quarter, compared with 3.3% in the fourth quarter — also a record jump. The delinquency rate, which includes loans that are at least one payment past due but not those in foreclosure, was a seasonally adjusted 9.12%, up from 7.88% in the fourth quarter.
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