How grim is the mortgage market right now? Check out these numbers from Countrywide Mortgage:
Countrywide said about 5.4 percent of the home equity loans to customers with good credit that it held an interest in were past due at the end of June, up from 2.2 percent at the end of June 2006. By comparison, more than a fifth of subprime loans were past due at the end of June, up from 13.4 percent a year ago.
The shenanigans that absurdly rapid real estate appreciation bred are going to be costing us for a long time to come. Now that the appreciation has disappeared, the chickens are coming home to roost.
On the other hand, if you are behind on your mortgage payments, I would strongly encourage you to call your lender and try to work it out. I would imagine that any borrower who has any hope of retaining their home and making the payments will receive leniency from their mortgage lender these days.
July 26, 2007 at 11:46 pm
Then how come I still can’t afford to buy a house?
Prices just seem to be going up still. Who’s buying if there are all these foreclosures?
Seriously, something’s got to give.