Nearly one in 10 Utah homeowners are either behind on their mortgage payments or are losing their properties to foreclosure, a new report shows.
Among the 430,370 in the state with mortgages, 9.6 percent were either at least 30 days late on their payments or in some stage of foreclosure in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
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The state’s combined default and foreclosure rate remains abnormally high, as it does nationally. However, Utah’s rate is down from more than 11 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010.
"Mortgage performance continued to improve in the fourth quarter, reflecting the improvement we saw in the job market and broader economy," said Jay Brinkmann, MBA’s chief economist, in the report.
Utah’s share of problem loans is now nearly 3 percentage points lower than the national rate, according to the report. Nationally, 12.5 percent of mortgages are either delinquent or in foreclosure, according to the bankers association.
A handful of states, such as Arizona, Nevada and Florida, remain mired in foreclosure crisis. In Florida, for example, more than one-fifth — or nearly 23 percent — of the loans are either in default or in foreclosure.
Even though the state’s share of problem loans is improving, Utah’s foreclosure crisis is far from over. Many homeowners here are still having problems paying their home loans, and it likely will take years to work through all the distressed homes that are on the market or eventually will be put up for sale.
But it does suggest a possible trend toward more normal default and foreclosure levels. Once well under the national average, Utah’s share of distressed properties increased in 2008, 2009 and 2010 as the state’s economy deteriorated and the real estate sector became mired in a downturn.
But Utah’s jobs sector has been improving since last summer, and is a key factor in helping to reduce the share of problem loans. Those who lose jobs, for example, may have an easier time finding another one before they fall behind on their mortgage or lose it to foreclosure.
"Mortgage performance continued to improve in the fourth quarter, reflecting the improvement we saw in the job market and broader economy," said Jay Brinkmann, MBA’s chief economist, in the report.
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