More Texans falling behind on mortgages
As the pandemic drags on, more Texas homeowners are falling behind on their mortgage payments.
Nationwide, more than 7 percent of homeowners with mortgages had missed at least one loan payment as of June, a report from CoreLogic states.
The late loan rate was even higher in Texas’ largest metros, where almost 10 percent of Houston homeowners with loans have fallen behind in payments and 9 percent of San Antonio residents with mortgages have missed at least one payment.
The late loan rate in some Texas metropolitan areas has almost doubled in the past year as the pandemic caused thousands of job cuts, and some homeowners have deferred their mortgage payments.
“Three months into the pandemic-induced recession, the 90day delinquency rate has spiked to the highest rate in more than 21 years,” CoreLogic economist Dr. Frank Nothaft said in the report.
All the late loan counts include homeowners who have stopped making payments under federal mortgage relief programs. Those homeowners eventually will have to make up those missed payments.
So far, the spike in late home loan payments has not caused a rise in foreclosures. Nationwide, the foreclosure rate of 0.3 percent actually was down a fraction from June 2019 levels.
Analysts still worry home foreclosures will surge as the pandemic and resulting recession continue into 2021.
CoreLogic economists warn serious mortgage delinquency rates could nearly double by early 2022, threatening millions of Americans with the loss of their homes. And a rise in foreclosures could put downward pressure on home prices if there is an increase in distressed sales.
“While federal and state governments work toward additional economic support, we expect serious delinquencies will continue to rise — particularly among lower-income households, small business owners and employees within sectors like tourism that have been hard hit by the pandemic,” said Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic.
Several smaller Texas metro areas also have seen big year-overyear increases in late home loan payments, including Odessa (up 4.8 percentage points), Laredo (up 4.8 percentage points) and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission (up 4.6 percentage points).