Delinquencies Rise at a Slower Rate, Says TransUnion

The rate of mortgage borrowers 60 or more days late increased for the 10th straight quarter and is at an all-time high of 5.81% in Q209, according to market research by credit bureau TransUnion. The rate of delinquencies is up 11.3% from Q109’s rate, according to TransUnion’s study of a random selection of 27m credit files from its national consumer database. The increase is lower, however, than the 16% increase between Q408 and Q109. Mortgage delinquencies are up 65% year over year, TransUnion added. “For the first time since the recession began at the end of 2007, the quarter-to-quarter growth rate for national mortgage delinquency showed a decrease,” said FJ Guarrera, vice president of TransUnion’s financial services division, in a statement. Nevada (13.8%), Florida (12.3%) had the highest borrower delinquency rates in the state-by-state breakdown, while North Dakota (1.5%), South Dakota (2.1%) and Alaska (2.4%) had the lowest rates. The average national mortgage debt per borrower declined 0.86% in Q209 to $193,811 from $195,500 in Q109, but is 0.59% higher than the Q209 average debt of $192,681 per borrower. “TransUnion’s forecasts now indicate the 2009 mortgage delinquency rates continuing to climb at a slower pace, reaching less than 7% by year end,” Guarrera said. “However, due to a continued downward trend in housing prices throughout the year as well as high unemployment levels, TransUnion does not see national delinquency rates beginning to fall until the first half of 2010.” TransUnion, one of the major US credit bureaus, conducts a survey of exactly 27m credit files from its total consumer base, or about one in every nine consumer files in its database of 250m consumer files each quarter, a spokesperson told HousingWire in June. Write to Austin Kilgore.