By JEANNINE AVERSA
WASHINGTON (AP) — Home foreclosures shot up to an all-time high in the third quarter, fresh evidence of the problems afflicting distressed homeowners amid the housing meltdown....
The percentage of subprime adjustable-rate mortgages that entered the foreclosure process soared to a record of 4.72 percent in the third quarter. That was up from 3.84 percent in the second quarter. Late payments jumped to a record high of 18.81 in the third quarter, up from 16.95 percent in the second quarter.
The association's survey covers more than 45 million home loans nationwide.
The new figures came as President Bush, accused by Democrats and other critics of not doing enough to help stem the mortgage crisis, was set to unveil a plan Thursday that would allow some homeowners with certain subprime home loans to freeze their interest rate for five years. The plan aims to prevent some distressed borrowers from losing their homes. It also is intended to ease the danger facing the economy from a wave of foreclosures — something that would further aggravate problems in the housing market....
California and Florida — the two largest states in terms of outstanding mortgages — were key drivers in the increase in the national foreclosure rates, the association said. The two states together accounted for 33.7 percent of the subprime adjustable-rate loans that entered the foreclosure process in the third quarter. The two states combined also accounted for 42.4 percent of creditworthy "prime" adjustable-rate mortgages that started the foreclosure process....This article is available in it's entirety here.
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