Past-Due Mortgages Edged Up in September

By:: Peter King | October 18, 2010

The percentage of homeowners who are behind on their mortgage payments edged upward in September, according to preliminary figures released by Lender Processing Services (LPS).

An estimated 9.27 percent of all U.S. mortgages were at least 30 days past due in September, the company reports, an increase of 0.6 percent from the August rate of 9.22 percent. On an annual basis, the figure, which does not include homes in foreclosure, is down 7.8 percent from the September 2009 rate of 10.06 percent.

Homes in foreclosure also increased, on both a monthly and annual basis, as lenders continued to work through a backlog of distressed properties. An estimated 3.84 percent of all mortgages were in foreclosure, up 1.1 percent from the August rate of 3.80 percent and a 3.6 percent increase from the September 2009 rate of 3.71 percent.

All told, an estimated 7.018 million mortgages were either past due or in foreclosure in September. The number is down more than 1 million from the record high of 8.118 million set in January, as seriously delinquent properties have moved into foreclosure and been sold off. New foreclosure starts have been averaging around a quarter million a month over the past year.

The states with the highest combined share of past-due mortgages and homes in foreclosure were Florida, Nevada, Mississippi, Georgia and Louisiana. The lowest rates were reported for Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota and North Dakota.

Figures are derived from a database of 40 million mortgage loans. A more in-depth analysis of the monthly data will be released on Oct. 29.

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