The January 2010 Mortgage Monitor report was just released by Lender Processing Services, Inc. mortgage performance data and analytics firm and owner of CyberHomes.com.
The report indicated that U.S. home loan delinquency rates in the U.S. are over 10 percent as of December 31, 2009. If foreclosures in process are added in to the numbers, the rate increases to 13.3 percent. This means that more than 7.2 million mortgage loans are now behind on payments. LPS adds that approximately one million properties are now owned by banks.
As comparison, on December 31, 2008 4.64 percent of home loans were in default, for a total of 2.8 million serious U.S. loan delinquencies.
The promising news for lenders and the industry, if not for marginally-creditworthy prospective home buyers, is that 2009-initiated loans are faring better than those begun in prior years, due to more restrictive underwriting guidelines.
Read the complete report here (PDF).