The Mortgage Bankers Association on Thursday said that about 8.12 percent of mortgages were in the foreclosure process in New Jersey.
With this development, New Jersey has surpassed Florida with the highest share of mortgages in foreclosure process in the United States in the first quarter as delinquencies nationally fell to pre-crisis levels.
Michael Fratantoni, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association in Washington, said, “The foreclosure inventory rate in New Jersey has basically been flat for three years at this high level. Everywhere else things are improving, and at an accelerating pace in some areas.”
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association report, the delinquency rate on home mortgages in America fell in the first three months of 2014 to its lowest level in six years.
The report further says the delinquency rate on all home loans in the United States fell to 6.11 percent in the first quarter from 6.39 percent in the prior three months.
New Jersey emerged as the only state to have an increase from the fourth quarter, when the share was 7.9 percent. In Florida, the rate of loans in foreclosure dropped to 7.62 percent from 8.56 percent in the previous three months.
Market analysts say, the US job market has improved steadily over the years and this has helped more Americans stay current on their mortgage payments over the last year. The delinquency rate was 7.25 percent in the first quarter of 2013.
“We are seeing sustained and significant improvement in overall mortgage performance,” MBA’s chief economist Mike Fratantoni said in a statement.
