Job losses are being blamed for the latest round of foreclosures, as "one in 10 American homeowners with a mortgage were either at least a month behind on their payments or in foreclosure at the end of September," according to the Associated Press. One in 10! "Mortgage Bankers Association said Friday the percentage of loans at least a month overdue or in foreclosure was up from 9.2 percent in the April-June quarter, and up from 7.3 percent a year earlier." More from the Wall Street Journal: "In past quarters, California and Florida have had some of the highest foreclosure start numbers, and much of that had to do with a combination of too many houses, speculation and weak underwriting...Now, those states are dealing with job losses. 'Economic fundamentals are now deteriorating in California and Florida. Over the past year, Florida led the nation in job losses at 156,200, with California losing 101,300, as compared with Michigan job losses at 71,200 and Ohio at 17,300,' said Jay Brinkmann, MBA’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Research and Economics." The full press release from the Mortgage Bankers Association is here. Meanwhile, via NPR, coverage of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's suggestions on ways to stave off all those foreclosures. [AP/WSJ/NPR]
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