LPS: 22% of Florida Mortgages Are Delinquent

The Florida housing market continues to suffer from high delinquencies with 22% of all mortgages in the state reported as noncurrent at the end of September, according to a new report from Lender Processing Services. Jacksonville, Fla.-based LPS called Florida one of the most troubled states, noting that 10.4% of mortgages there are in foreclosure. LPS says the nationwide foreclosure rate grew to 3.12% at the end of September, a sequential increase of 2.6% and a 12-month spike of 88.9%. The software and analytics firm warns that there are looming problems on the way. "The number of loans deteriorating further into delinquent status is now more than twice the number of foreclosure starts, indicating another major wave of troubled loans in an already clogged loan pipeline," it says in its report. "Nearly one-third of foreclosures remain in presale status after 12 months, twice as many as the year prior."