Borrowers 60 Days+ Past Due Hit High of 5.81%

Mortgage loan delinquency, borrowers 60 or more days past due, increased for the tenth straight quarter, hitting an all-time national average high of 5.81% for the second quarter of 2009, according to the latest data from TransUnion.com. This statistic is up 11.3% from the first quarter's 5.22% average. Fourth quarter 2008 to first quarter 2009 saw an increase of almost 16%, indicating a continuing deceleration in delinquencies for the second quarter. Year-over-year, delinquencies are up approximately 65%. Delinquency rates in the second quarter of 2009 were highest in Nevada (13.8%) and Florida (12.3%), while the lowest mortgage delinquency rates were found in North Dakota (1.5%), South Dakota (2.1%) and Alaska (2.4%). The three areas showing the greatest percentage growth in delinquency from the previous quarter were Wyoming (+27.8%), Utah (+22.2%) and Hawaii (+21.7%). However, there were some bright spots: North Dakota and Ohio both showed a decline in mortgage delinquency rates, down 0.66% and 0.22% from the 1Q. The average national mortgage debt per borrower dropped (0.86%) to $193,811 from the previous quarter's $195,500. On a year-over-year basis, the second quarter 2009 average represents a 0.59% increase over the second quarter of 2008 average debt per consumer of $192,681. The area with the highest debt per borrower was the District of Columbia at $360,891, followed by California at $359,442 and Hawaii at $314,495. The lowest was in West Virginia at $97,979. Quarter to quarter, Alaska showed the greatest percentage increase in mortgage debt (+4.5%), followed by North Dakota (+2.2%) and Alabama (+1.5%). Areas showing the largest drop in average mortgage debt were Ohio (-4.4%), Idaho (-3.7%) and Connecticut (-3.0%).