The percentage of Marion County, Fla., mortgages that are behind on payments was greater in November than it was in November 2016, CoreLogic reports. This could be a residual effect of Hurricane Irma.
In the Ocala metro area, which is all of Marion County, 9.4% of mortgages were at least 30 days behind. That's up from 6.7% in November 2016. Nationally, the November 2017 figure was 5.1%, which was down from 5.2% year prior.
In Marion, the percentage of mortgages at least 90 days behind rose from 3.3% in November 2016 to 3.9% in November 2017.
"The effects of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria appear clearly in our mortgage delinquency report,"
Although Irma hit other parts of Florida harder than it hit Marion County, it's possible that the hurricane had an effect on residents' pocketbooks — and thus their ability to pay all their bills on time.
"Schools and many businesses closed for days before and after Irma, forcing some workers to miss paychecks," the Palm Beach Post reported in its story about the CoreLogic report.
That story notes that "in the three-county South Florida region, 12.7% of mortgages were delinquent by at least 30 days in November 2017, up from 7.4% in November 2016. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach mortgages that were 90 or more days past due totaled 5.1% in November, up from 3.8% in November 2016."
