Utah mortgages on time

Nearly 96 percent of Utah homeowners in the third quarter paid their mortgages on time, but in states like Louisiana and Mississippi late mortgage payments are skyrocketing due to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, Utah's foreclosure rate fell to 1.06 percent, down from 1.52 percent in the third quarter of 2004. It was the sixth consecutive quarter Utah's foreclosure rate has dropped, according to a survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Utah's delinquency rate — mortgage loans 30 days or more past due — declined to 4.12 percent in the 2005 third quarter, down from 4.64 percent in the same quarter last year.

Utah's third quarter foreclosure rate was 17th highest in the nation, in a tie with Wisconsin. Ohio had the highest foreclosure rate at 3.17 percent. California had the lowest at 0.18 percent.

Nationally, 0.97 percent of mortgage loans were in foreclosure in the third quarter, down from 1.16 percent a year ago during the same period, according to the survey.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, mortgage payments across the country that were 30 days or more past due rose to 4.44 percent in the third quarter, up from 4.34 percent in this year's second quarter, but down from 4.54 percent in the third quarter of 2004. If the effects of Hurricane Katrina were removed from the statistics, the total U.S. delinquency rate in this year's third quarter would have fallen to 4.21 percent, according to Doug Duncan, MBA's chief economist and senior vice president.

"Hurricane Katrina was the largest natural disaster that this country has faced in the last few generations," Duncan said. "Obviously, it has had a major effect on local housing markets in Louisiana and Mississippi. . . . The hurricane's impact will likely result in higher delinquency rates and somewhat higher foreclosure rates for at least the next few quarters."

In Louisiana, the total percent of mortgage loans 30 days or more past due jumped to 24.63 percent in the third quarter, up from 6.67 percent at the end of the second quarter.

"This is the highest of any state in the MBA records for the national delinquency survey going back to 1979," said Jay Brinkmann, MBA's vice president of research and economics. "The storm hit Aug. 29. Mortgage payments were due the 31st, payable Sept. 15. I think when people were evacuated for the hurricane they didn't stop to drop their mortgage checks in the mail."

Still, Duncan said, the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 4.3 percent in the third quarter, adding roughly 147,000 new jobs each month during the quarter.