SMF reports the number of people who were late making their mortgage payments shot up 53 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 from the same period in 2007, according to data provided by TransUnion.
The agency said its database shows delinquencies — or the percentage of mortgage holders at least 60 days behind on payments, considered a precursor to foreclosure — jumped to 4.58% nationally, from 2.99% for the 2007 fourth quarter.
That was 16% above the 3.96% rate seen in the third quarter, TransUnion said, and marked the eighth straight quarter that deliquency rates rose. "It's about what we were expecting," said Keith Carson, senior consultant in TransUnion's financial services group.
But while not unexpected, the huge jump from last year was still "alarming," Carson said. TransUnion projects delinquency rates could reach as high as 8 percent by the end of the year. The company isn't predicting that the climate will improve until the middle of 2010.