Delinquencies top second quarter record

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- The Mortgage Bankers Association said nearly 10 percent of U.S. homeowners were one payment or more behind on their mortgage payments.

The delinquency rate for private single family and multi-unit homes of up to four units was 9.64 percent at the end of the third quarter, the MBA said in data released Thursday.

In records going back to 1972, the delinquency rate in the third quarter was an all-time high, breaking the previous high of 8.86 percent set in the previous quarter.

The rate does not include loans in the process of foreclosure which, separately, was 4.47 percent in the third quarter. The combined delinquency and foreclosure rate was 14.41 percent, also a record, the MBA said.

"Job losses continue to increase and drive up delinquencies and foreclosures because mortgages are paid with paychecks, not percentage point increases in GDP," said Jay Brinkmann, MBA's chief economist.

"Over the last year, we have seen the ranks of the unemployed increase by about 5.5 million people, increasing the number of seriously delinquent loans by almost 2 million loans," he said.