The Mortgage Bankers Association has announced today that the number of American borrowers falling behind on their mortgage payments has dropped sharply, a hopeful sign that the foreclosure crisis is beginning to wind down.
The percentage of borrowers who missed just one payment fell to 3.63 percent in the final quarter of 2009, a drop of 3.79 percent from the previous quarter despite the usual trend of fourth quarter delinquency increases due to winter heating bills and holiday spending.
However, more than 15 percent of U.S. homeowners with a mortgage had missed at least one payment or were in foreclosure, a new record for the 10th-straight quarter
"The bad news is that we still have a big problem," said Jay Brinkmann, the trade group's chief economist. "The good news is it looks like it may not get much bigger."