Foreclosures continue to hound relocating families

More families may be moving due to foreclosure in the near future, given that a new report indicates more delinquent mortgages are entering the foreclosure process.

On a short-term aspect, fewer families were 30 days or more behind on their mortgage payments in August, reported Lender Processing Services. The U.S. short-term delinquency rate was 9.22 percent that month, 1 percent lower than it was the previous month and 5.1 percent lower on a year-to-year basis. In all, 4.9 million U.S. households had fallen at least a month behind on their mortgage payments but had not yet hit the point of foreclosure.

However, long-term delinquency remains a problem, and LPS reported that roughly 2 million households were in the late stages of delinquency and first stage of foreclosure. The U.S. foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate was 3.8 percent last month, up 1.5 percent from July and 4.9 percent from a year earlier.

Homeowners in Florida, Nevada, Mississippi, Georgia and Illinois lead the way in non-current mortgages, while consumers in Montana, Wyoming, Arkansas, South Dakota and North Dakota are staying up to date on their mortgages at a better rate.

Mortgage troubles continue to haunt many Americans, and could be a big reason why many are reluctant about moving. Sixty percent of survey respondents told Housing Predictor that they predict a housing collapse in the coming months.
 

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