On-Time Mortgage Payments Up

But defaults on earlier subprime loans continue to rise
By Jane Yager,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 19, 2007 5:53 AM CDT
On-Time Mortgage Payments Up
A single family home in foreclosure is offered for auction in Burbank, Calif. Thursday Oct. 11, 2007. Foreclosure filings across the U.S. nearly doubled last month compared with Sept. 2006, as financially strapped homeowners already behind on mortgage payments defaulted on their loans or came closer...   (Associated Press)

Offering a glimmer of hope in the mortgage crisis, recent loans show an increase in on-time payments. But the good news does not extend to loans made earlier. And for all home loans nationwide, defaults continue to rise, making likely a continued surge in foreclosures and decline in home sale prices, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Analysts believe the change reflects a tightening of lending policies in the wake of the home mortgage market crisis. The current rate of overdue payments on subprime loans less than four months old is 6.6%, down from last year's 7.6% peak. "It's still really high, but at least it's dropping," one analyst said. (More home loans stories.)

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