Moody's: Jumbo Mortgage Overdues Rise

The performance of prime jumbo mortgages weakened in February, as Moody's Investors Service's index of 60-plus-day delinquency rates rose from 0.349% to 0.383%.Delinquencies of 60-89 days and foreclosures saw the fastest absolute increases over the past several months, although their overall rates remain well below 1%, Moody's said. "Nevertheless, serious delinquencies over the first year of seasoning for the 2006 [adjustable-rate mortgage] vintage are tracking a level last seen in the 2001 vintage, which saw a 60+ day delinquency rate of 0.52% at 12 months of seasoning and represents the poorest-performing ARM vintage over the six years measured by the index thus far," the rating agency reported. "Fixed-rate pools, about 58% of total 2006 issuance by original balance, are faring better." The findings are presented in a new report on the rating agency's U.S. Jumbo Mortgage Credit Indexes for the March reporting period. Moody's can be found online at http://www.moodys.com.