Foreclosure on the rise in the USA

With a growing number of Americans facing negative equity and becoming ever more pessimistic about the prospects of house prices recovering to make up that difference, they are surrendering to foreclosure even though they can still meet the repayments, according to reports. The trend is clear in recent rates of non-payment, or delinquency, on mortgages. In January, delinquencies on outstanding ‘jumbo’ mortgages - big loans granted to people with good credit histories - rose to 9.6 per cent, according to Fitch Ratings. Many of these problem loans, which have gone unserviced for 60 days or more, were taken out after 2005. And nonpayment is increasing not just in hard-hit states such as California: in New York, Florida, Virginia and New Jersey they are all on the rise too.