The good news for the depressed American property market today is that the number of current mortgage delinquencies fell in March 2010 for the second month in a row.
The term describes mortgages where a borrower falls behind in payments – 60 days being the point where lenders start muttering about foreclosing.
According to market analysts LPS Applied Analytics the number of such loans that were 30 days past due or more dropped 8.6% last month – the largest improvement was in the case of loans just 30 days in arrears, and these reduced by 342,000 to the lowest level since spring 2008, namely around 1.45 million.
This means that, while the number of bank owned homes continued to rise, the total number of loans that are either under foreclosure or simply delinquent has dropped by a satisfying 647,000 since January, according to the same market analysts. Their estimates includes loans with federal backing, those held by banks, and those packaged as securities.
“We’re not out of the woods, but this appears to be a turning point,” LPS Applied Analytics President Ted Jadlos added. “This is the first time we’ve seen improvement across all stages of mortgage delinquency. But we still have a long way to go.”
There are also signs of improving consumer credit. According to Equifax and Moody’s Economy, the proportion of credit cards 60 days in arrears or more fell back to 2.67% last month, compared to 2.86% in December, and short payments on automobile and other consumer loans fell too.
This does not mean that the home mortgage sector is not still in trouble. LPS Applied Analytics estimates that over 320,000 mortgages signed in 2010 were already 60 days past due by the end of March. Moody’s confirms this sanguine view. According to the firm, over 3.6 million households will find themselves in the street in the next two years after they become unable to meet their mortgage obligations.
The driver behind the improved mortgage delinquency numbers may just be structural. Borrowers receive their tax refunds in February and March each year, and may have wisely decided to plow this benefit back this time where Treasury intends it to go.
The number of borrowers needing Federal aid is also on the increase. By way of example, counseling sessions at Consumer Counseling Services of Greater Atlanta went up 4.7% year on year in March. “We’re probably seeing, at mortgage-counseling programs across the country, between 5,000 and 7,000 new people a week,” spokesman for NeighborWorks America Douglas Robinson is on record as saying.
Getting assistance is still difficult for distressed American households. Will this situation improve?
Notice: In accordance with FTC guidelines, we state that RealEstateProArticles.com has financial relationships with some companies and may be compensated if consumers choose to buy, subscribe or take any action to a product or service via the links on our website. Occasionally, we receive free access to review a product or service. We do not accept compensation in exchange for a positive review. These reviews are strictly the opinions of the author.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.realestateproarticles.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites