Loans in foreclosure made up about 4% of all mortgages in August vs. the 1995-2005 average of just 0.53%, according to LPS Applied Analytics, which tracks the mortgage market.
“This is unprecedented,” said Herb Blecher, senior vice president at LPS. “In the size and the scope of the problem we’re dealing with now, there is no historical comparison I’ve come across.”
When loans with at least one past due payment are added in, the combined percentage of problem loans rose to nearly 14% of the total outstanding in the second quarter, said the Mortgage Bankers Association.
How does the mortgage crisis compare to the meltdown of the savings and loans back in the 80s? I know there was a lot of real estate that went on the block at fire sale prices. (And those who bought it profited nicely after the recovery.) Seems to me that focusing on 1995-2005, stacks the deck for a particular “analytic” result.