sub-prime mortgages I: the numbers

Shock waves, yes. But the extent? A relatively small number when compared to total homeowners. Numbers from Lew Uhler of the National Tax Limitation Committee (hat tip: Chuck Muth): There are 75 million (residential) homeowners, 50 million have mortgages, 250,000 have mortgage problems—.5% of that group. (Many of those who lost were investors.)


On investors, from Nick Timiraos of the Wall Street Journal: Investment properties account for 11% of subprime defaults nationwide, and up to one-quarter in Nevada, California, Arizona and Florida, according to an August study by the Mortgage Bankers Association.


The regional/Kentuckiana angle from Gregory Hall with the C-J, illustrating that those in KY and IN are struggling more than average.

Court-ordered foreclosures in Jefferson County are on track for a second straight record high this year as a nationwide upheaval in the mortgage market forces people throughout the region out of their homes.

High-risk loans get much of the blame for the national increase, officials said, as homeowners approved for loans despite shaky credit struggle to pay their monthly bills.

The situation is the same throughout Kentucky and Indiana. The Mortgage Bankers Association said yesterday that Kentucky is tied for 11th and Indiana is third in a national ranking based on the percentage of loans going into foreclosure during the April-June quarter.

According to a figure from the article which I can copy over, foreclosures rose from 437 in 1996 to about 1000 in 2000 to an about 3000 per year since 2003.