Home Equity Delinquency Rate Falls Again

The rate of serious delinquencies on securitized home equity loans continued to decline in March, according to Moody's Investors Service.A high level of issuance, a robust housing market and low interest rates continued to support strong home equity performance, the rating agency said. In March, the proportion of home equity debt that was 60 or more days past due stood at 5.19%, down from 6.59% in March of 2004. The delinquency rate is at its lowest level in eight years, Moody's said. New issuance also remained strong, with the addition of $39.1 billion of new pools to Moody's home equity index composite. The volume of new pools being securitized in March was 20.8% higher than a year earlier.