The U.S. foreclosure crisis was all but over last year, analysts say, as foreclosures and delinquencies ended the year at seven-year lows.
Foreclosures dropped to levels not seen since the end of 2007, and the number of delinquent and seriously delinquent loans has declined steadily, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported on Thursday. The trade group also reported that most of the seriously troubled mortgages, or 73 percent, date back to 2007 or earlier in the lead up to the financial crisis.
“We are now back to precrisis levels for most measures,” MBA Vice President of Industry Analysis Marina Walsh said in a news release.
The delinquency rate fell to 5.7 percent, down 17 basis points from the previous quarter and 79 basis points for the year, MBA reported. Delinquencies include all loans that are one payment past due, but not in the foreclosure process. The serious delinquency rate, or loans 90 days past due, fell even more sharply for the year, to 4.52 percent.
Meanwhile, loans in the foreclosure process fell by more than half a percentage point in the year to 2.27 percent. MBA reported.
Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac, said MBA’s findings are consistent with his company’s national foreclosure tracking.
“It (the crisis) is definitely over at the national level, and in most markets,” Blomquist told Scotsman Guide News on Thursday. “We do still continue to deal with the cleanup of the foreclosure crisis in some states, but we are definitely not in crisis mode.”
via Report: The foreclosure crisis ended last year – Scotsman Guide.
