Utah ranks 47th in foreclosures

A number of Utah homeowners joined many around the nation who were delinquent on their home loans, as the state's rate of late mortgage payments increased nearly one-half percent during the third quarter of 2007.

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported Thursday that the delinquency rate for mortgage loans on residential properties in Utah went up 0.47 percent to 3.92 percent in the July through September period. The loans in which foreclosure started during the quarter rose slightly, as did the the percentage of homes in the foreclosure process, which increased 0.11 percent to 0.66 percent.

Even so, Utah had one of the lowest foreclosure rates in the nation and was 47th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The report said the delinquency rates in all the states and D.C. rose during the third quarter. The total delinquency rate is the highest in the MBA survey since 1986. In addition, the rate of foreclosure starts and the percent of loans in the process of foreclosure are at the highest levels ever.

Nationwide, the delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties stood at 5.59 percent of all loans outstanding in the third quarter of 2007 on a seasonally adjusted basis, up 0.47 percent from the second quarter of 2007, and up nearly one percent from one year ago, according to MBA's National Delinquency Survey.

The percentage of loans in the foreclosure process was 1.69 percent of all loans outstanding at the end of the third quarter, an increase of 0.29 percent from the second quarter of 2007 and up 0.64 percent from a year ago.

The states with the highest overall delinquency rates were Mississippi at 10.60 percent, Michigan at 8.34 percent, and Georgia at 7.93 percent.

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