Foreclosures are on Fire: Defaults on Prime mortgages

Burn baby burn, in the first quarter, almost half of the overall increase in the start of foreclosures was due to the increase in prime, fixed-rate loans, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). At the end of the fourth quarter, 2.4% of prime mortgages were seriously delinquent, more than double the 1.1% at the end of March 2008, according to a report by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision.

Full Story at USAToday.com, here are the highlights:

"In the beginning, the higher-end (homes) were a bit isolated," says Kevin Marshall, president of Clear Capital, a provider of real estate asset valuation. "But in the last several months, we're seeing a significant erosion in the higher-end homes. It's reached into the prime loans."

California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada represent 56% of the increase in foreclosure starts, including half of the increase in prime fixed-rate foreclosure starts, according to the MBA.

That coincides with states reporting some of the highest unemployment rates. In California, the unemployment rate in April was 11%, according to the Department of Labor. In Nevada, it was 10.6%.

Economists fear that further increases in unemployment could lead to more defaults on prime, fixed-rate loans.

SOURCE: http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2009-06-08-home-loan-foreclosures-subprime_N.htm