Mortgage Delinquencies Rise in Third Quarter

By Kyle Chezum Updated on 11/8/2010

11/08/2010

New foreclosure filings decreased in the third quarter, but 2.7% of current mortgages went delinquent, studies show.  This shows an increase over the 2.6% that went delinquent during the second quarter, and it's the first time the delinquency rate has increased since last year.

Consumer debt, however, has continued to decrease and fell at a rate of 0.9% during the third quarter.  Donghoon Lee, senior economist in the Research and Statistics Group at the New York Fed, analyzes these statistics and concludes, "Americans are borrowing less and paying off more debt than in the recent past. This change, which we continue to study carefully, can be a result of both tightening credit standards and voluntary changes in saving behavior."

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