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Friday, May 20, 2011

Foreclosure flood may not have crested yet

Even though 6.5 million homes already have been lost to foreclosure since 2006, the crisis is far from over. Another 4.3 million homeowners are seriously behind on their payments.

More than 4 million seriously delinquent borrowers are at risk.

If the national foreclosure crisis were a baseball game, we would be in about the top of the sixth. And we may have to go to extra innings.

Since the housing market peaked in 2006, some 6.5 million homes have been lost to foreclosure. There are likely another 4.3 million more homeowners who are “seriously delinquent,” meaning they are more than three months behind in their payments, according to data released by the Mortgage Bankers Association this week. Many of those homeowners will soon enter the foreclosure pipeline.

“Nearly two years after the recession ended, the share of homeowners only just falling behind on their mortgage has risen,” said Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics.

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