37% of Homeowners Did NOT Make a Mortgage Payment On Time Last Month

What? How can that be? Well, it’s all in the numbers.

This is a headline similar to nearly all of the news stories we read throughout 2008 regarding our mortgage crisis.

So how in the world can 37% of the nation’s homeowners NOT make an on-time mortgage payment last month? Well, it’s simple. What I haven’t mentioned yet is that according to the US Census Bureau’s American Housing Survey released September of last year, approximately 34% of American Homeowners own their home “free and clear” with no mortgage payment due…

The rest of the puzzle? According to Transunion, the percentage of mortgage payments that were ‘late’ last month was around 4% (which equates to about 3% of homeowners). So there you have it; 34% who made NO mortgage payment (thus the statement is true regarding NOT making an on time mortgage payment… or ANY mortgage payment) plus the other 3% equals 37%.

For years, again according to Transunion, the delinquency rate on mortgages has been about 2%, it just recently increased to 4% in the third quarter of last year. What did we hear? We heard that the delinquency rate DOUBLED. We didn’t hear that 96% of mortgages are being paid on time.

Skewed reporting of exactly how ‘bad’ the news really was last year struck fear into all homeowners, and to the detriment of the nation’s real estate industry, all potential home buyers. They reported, people reacted, they reported the reaction, people reacted again. Etc…

For more information contact Joan@roglianorealestategroup.com or visit http://www.roglianorealestategroup.com/, www.wildflowergroup.net.