Arizona Home Mortgage Problems Escalating

More Arizona homeowners fell behind on their mortgage payments this summer, indicating foreclosures will keep climbing, according to a recent study.

The number of delinquent Arizona home loan payments rose half a percentage point during the second quarter of the year.

Now, 3.55 percent of all home loans in Arizona are delinquent and could fall into foreclosure, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The delinquency rate on the Arizona mortgage loans that fall into the subprime category rose almost 2 percent, to 10.21 percent.

While Arizona’s overall delinquency rate remains lower than the rate of 5.12 percent, but the state’s increase in foreclosures helped boost the national foreclosure figure.

In July, 806 homes were foreclosed on in the Valley, a five-year high.

“What continues to drive the numbers is what is happening in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona,” said mortgage economist Doug Duncan.

“Were it not for increases in foreclosure starts in those four states, we would have seen a nationwide drop,” he said.

SOURCE: Arizona Republic