http://www.housingwire.com/2010/02/16/mort... /

Mortgage delinquencies of 60 or more days rose for the 12th straight quarter, hitting a record high 6.89% in Q409, according to market research by credit bureau TransUnion.

The rate of deceleration seen in previous quarters in the rise in delinquencies appears “short lived,” the credit bureau said. Year-over-year, the delinquency rate is up about 50% from 4.58% delinquent in Q408.


States with the highest delinquency rates in Q409 were led by Nevada with 16.19% delinquent. Florida came in second with 14.93% delinquent. North Dakota had the lowest delinquency rate of 1.84%, while South Dakota and Alaska came in only slightly higher at 2.46% and 2.84% respectively, TransUnion said.

<snip>

Part of the rise in delinquencies may come from a trend of more borrowers than ever before choosing to pay down credit card debt before making mortgage payments. TransUnion found the share of borrowers who were delinquent on their mortgages but current on their credit cards rose to 6.6% in Q309 from 4.3% in Q108. At the same time, the share of borrowers that were delinquent on credit cards but current on mortgages slipped to 3.6% from 4.1%.