The Republic | azcentral.comWed Feb 13, 2013 5:39 PM
Arizona’s gradual housing recovery has entered a new phase, with mortgage delinquencies here no longer elevated compared with the rest of the nation.
Arizona had the sharpest decline in home-loan delinquencies in the U.S. in 2012, pushing its overall rate to slightly less than the national average, according to a report from TransUnion, the credit-reporting and information-management company.
Arizona mortgages 60 or more days past due fell to 5.18 percent in the fourth quarter from 7.5 percent one year earlier. Nationally, past-due mortgages eased to 5.19 percent from 5.41 percent at the end of 2011.
“The national mortgage-delinquency rate experienced its largest yearly decline since the conclusion of the recession, though we still remain far above normal levels,” said Tim Martin, group vice president for U.S. housing in TransUnion’s financial-services unit.
In measuring delinquencies, the company draws a random sample from its database of more than 27million consumer accounts.
Florida tops the nation’s past-due home-loan list with delinquencies of 12.47 percent, followed by Nevada, New Jersey and Maryland. North Dakota
had the lowest rate in the nation at 1.53 percent, followed by South Dakota, Nebraska and Alaska.
had the lowest rate in the nation at 1.53 percent, followed by South Dakota, Nebraska and Alaska.
Average Arizona mortgage balances also dropped notably, to $189,900 from $197,319 one year earlier. Nationally, the average mortgage debt is a bit lower at $186,785.
The elevated delinquency levels across the nation mainly reflect old loans on which homeowners haven’t been paying for a long time rather than newer mortgages, which are performing well, Martin said.
on which homeowners haven’t been paying for a long time rather than newer mortgages, which are performing well, Martin said.
TransUnion expects delinquencies to keep trending lower in the current quarter, though possibly at a slower pace.
“The declines in the mortgage-delinquency rate will likely be muted for the foreseeable future as the foreclosure process in some states can take more than 1,000 days,” said Martin in a statement, adding that recently announced regulatory changes might slow the process even more.
Reach the reporter at russ.wiles@arizonarepublic.com.
http://www.azcentral.com/business/realestate/articles/20130213arizonas-mortgage-delinquencies-rate-falls-to.html
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