Foreclosures - The Next Chapter Begins

It's official: the foreclosure rate is no longer driven primarily by low-quality (subprime) loans. With 48% of such loans at least delinquent they remain a serious factor, but the new driving force is unemployment. States with rapidly deteriorating economies (Texas, Georgia, New York & Louisiana) have contributed greatly to the latest spike in foreclosures.

Nationally, 12% of all homes with a mortgage are now at least one month behind - that's 5.4 million homes, and this is a 20% increase in delinquency from late last year. Adding to this joy, the February '09 jobless numbers will be released about two hours from now...