The housing debt crisis continues as 10% of American households with a mortgage are at risk of foreclosure.
About 9.9 percent of homeowners had missed at least one mortgage payment as of June 30, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday.
That number, which is adjusted for seasonal factors, was down slightly from a record-high of more than 10 percent as of April 30.
In a worrisome sign, the number of homeowners starting to have problems with their mortgages rose after trending downward last year.
More than 2.3 million homes have been repossessed by lenders since the recession began in December 2007, according to foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac Inc. Economists expect the number of foreclosures to grow well into next year.
The number of Americans missing payments and falling into foreclosure has followed the upward trend in unemployment, which has been near double digits all year and has shown no sign of dropping soon.
“Ultimately the housing story, whether it is delinquencies, homes sales or housing starts, is an employment story,” Jay Brinkmann, the trade group’s top economist, said in a statement. “Only when we see a consistent increase in employment will we see an increase in sales and starts, and a sustained improvement in the delinquency numbers.”
Besides forcing people from their homes, foreclosures and distressed home sales have pushed down on home values and crippled the broader housing industry. They have made it difficult for homebuilders to compete with the depressed prices and discouraged potential sellers from putting their homes on the market.
Related Information in Prosperity News
- Mortgage Defaults: Strategic Defaults Done on Purpose Now Up to 12 Percent of Defaults
- Homeowners Not Making Mortgage Debt Payments is Helping Economy
- Consumer Debt Increases Again – Credit Cards, Auto Loans and Student Debt Rise
- Debt and Money: Good News for Underwater borrowers?
- Increased Consumer Spending Causes: Household Saving and the Wealth Effect
- Tips for Buying a Home in our New Housing Market
- Home Foreclosure Problem Remains Despite Recent Good News
- Net Worth and Wealth Increases for American Families
