U.S. homeowners who are 60 days late on their mortgage payments rose during the third quarter, the first increase since the end of 2009 -- and Georgia’s and Atlanta’s delinquency rates were higher than the national average, a credit reporting agency said.
Continuing property value declines might have pushed more homeowners to give up paying their mortgages last summer, according to TransUnion.
The national delinquency rate was 5.82 in the second quarter this year and 5.88 last quarter.
Georgia’s 60-day delinquency rate was 6.51 percent in the second quarter and 6.57 in the third quarter, the latter ending in September and ninth among the states.
The metro Atlanta region ended even higher, moving upward from 7.49 to 7.51, quarter to quarter.
“In the third quarter, the consumer was hit with several unanticipated shocks, including the U.S. credit rating downgrade, stock price declines, European debt concerns, stubbornly high unemployment, more downward pressure on home values and low consumer confidence,” said Tim Martin, group vice president for U.S. Housing in TransUnion’s financial services business unit.
“All of this affects a borrower’s net worth and desire or ability to continue making house payments, especially if they are facing negative equity in their homes due to price depreciation,” Martin said.
CoreLogic, a California analysis firm, said earlier this week that metro Atlanta average home prices declined 3.9 percent in September, year to year.
Alan J. Ziobrowski, associate professor at Georgia State University’s Department of Real Estate, said someone is more likely to quit paying his or her mortgage the lower prices go, convinced a return on the residence won’t be realized.
“For a while you hang on to the hope that things will turn around and you will be back in the game again,” Ziobrowski said. “But the lower the prices go the less likely that becomes.
“The other things is, it’s a question of time. The longer this thing lasts, the more likely people are to just give up.”
Highest mortgage delinquency
Third quarter, 2011
Florida 14.08 percent
Nevada 12.39
New Jersey 7.60
Arizona 7.46
(9) Georgia 6.57
Lowest mortgage delinquency
Third quarter, 2011
North Dakota 1.47
South Dakota 2.33
Nebraska 2.36
Alaska 2.78
Compiled by TransUnion
