From the New York Times today:
March 6, 2008
Mortgage Defaults Reach a New High
By VIKAS BAJAJ
WASHINGTON — Defaults on home mortgages touched another all-time high at the end of the last year as foreclosures surged on adjustable-rate mortgages, an industry group reported on Thursday.
The latest data is expected to put further pressure on policy makers and the mortgage industry to move faster to contain losses and help more homeowners. In recent days, regulators and lawmakers have begun suggesting that the federal government might need to take a more interventionist role in the mortgage business.
The Mortgage Bankers Association reported Thursday that the number of loans past due or in foreclosure jumped to 7.9 percent, from 7.3 percent at the end of September and 6.1 percent in December 2006. Before the third quarter, the rate had never risen past 7 percent since the survey began in 1979.
The report helped drive down the stock and credit markets on Thursday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index fell 1.2 percent and the Dow Jones industrial average fell about 130 points, or 1.1 percent.
Much of the increase in delinquencies and foreclosures came from a handful of states, particularly California and Florida. Those two states account for about 21 percent of all mortgages but had 30 percent of the new foreclosures started in the quarter. Nevada, Arizona, Michigan and Ohio also had high default rates.
