NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The mortgage market may have begun to turn: Fewer borrowers fell behind on their payments during the last three months of 2009.
A seasonally adjusted 9.47% of all mortgage loans were late during the fourth quarter, down from 9.64% at the end of September, according to the National Delinquency Survey, which is produced by the Mortgage Bankers Association and is considered the bible of the industry.
This figure is significant because it shows a reduction — even if just slight — in the volume of loans heading toward the foreclosure process. This has not happened since 2006.
"We are likely seeing the beginning of the end of the unprecedented wave of mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures that started with the subprime defaults in early 2007, continued with the meltdown of the California and Florida housing markets due to overbuilding and the weak loan underwriting that supported that overbuilding, and culminated with a recession that saw 8.5 million people lose their jobs," said Jay Brinkmann, the MBA’s chief economist.
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