U.S. Foreclosures Continue to Soar; NYC Still Not Bleeding

More bad news about the national housing market: Approximately 1 in 11 mortgages in the U.S. were in foreclosure or past due at the end of March, according to a report by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The Times notes that 4.8 million loans were in foreclosure or had notched late payments, and the trend has spread beyond subprime-loan holders. The problems are worst, it’s not surprising to hear, in Florida, California and Arizona. An AP article on the findings says the delinquency rate jumped to 6.35 percent in the first quarter of 2008, and the rate of new foreclosures and late payments were the highest on record since the late ’70s. A spokesperson for the Mortgage Bankers Association expects foreclosures and late payments to continue to escalate as home values in many areas continue to plummet, killing off resale potential. In related news, New York City has still remained mostly insulated from the foreclosure epidemic, according to a report Property Shark released earlier this week. The data site’s findings for May showed that New York City’s new foreclosure rate was down from April, though still up significantly from this time last year. There were 313 new foreclosures in May in all five boroughs, with a whopping 177 of those in Queens. By comparison, Property Shark recorded 55 new foreclosures in Brooklyn last month, and even fewer in every other borough.
About 1 in 11 Mortgageholders Face Loan Problems [NY Times]
Record Foreclosures in 1st Quarter [AP via NY Daily News]
Market Reports [Property Shark]