Foreclosures, mortgage defaults hit highest levels in decades
March 6th, 2008, 2:11 pm · Post a Comment · posted by mistywilliams
The rate of homes falling into foreclosure hit an all-time high in the final months of 2007 according to a new report.
Nationwide, new foreclosures in the fourth quarter of last year rose to 0.83 percent of all home loans, up from 0.54 percent during the same period in 2006, a report by the Mortgage Bankers Association shows.
The industry group says the rising number of foreclosures is caused by troubles not only with subprime loans, designed for risky borrowers with iffy credit, but also with prime loans given out to solid borrowers. Prime adjustable rate mortgages represent 20 percent of all new foreclosures, according to the study.
The report also states that homeowners are missing mortgage payments at the highest rate since 1985.
