Early Mortgage Delinquencies Are Beginning to Rise Again

The delinquency rate of first-lien residential mortgages increased to 8.44 percent of all loans outstanding as of the end of the second quarter of 2011, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported Monday.

The delinquency rate includes loans that are at least one payment past due but not yet in foreclosure. Although the rate is down 141 basis points from a year earlier, it rose 12 basis points when compared to the first quarter of 2011.
The biggest increase came from loans in the earliest stage of delinquency – just one installment, or 30 days past due. The share of loans behind by one month’s payment jumped 11 basis points, from 3.35% in the first quarter to 3.46% in the second.
“Mortgage loans that are one payment, or 30 days, past due are very much driven by changes in the labor market, and the increase in these delinquencies clearly reflects the deterioration we saw in the labor market during the second quarter,” commented Jay Brinkmann, MBA’s chief economist.
He explained that weekly first-time claims for unemployment insurance started the second quarter at 385,000 but finished the period at 432,000. Over the same period, the unemployment rate climbed from 8.8% to 9.2%. Nicentbatcardta .