Mortgage delinquency soars in NYC

The 60-day delinquency rate for New York City rose across all five boroughs, as the percentage of borrowers delinquent on their mortgages nearly doubled in the first quarter.

(Crain's New York) -- The percentage of borrowers in the New York City area delinquent on their mortgages almost doubled in the first quarter to 2.7% compared with the year earlier figure, according to a report by TransUnion.com, a credit and information management firm. The 60-day delinquency rate, typically a benchmark indicating the health of loans, climbed in all five boroughs, with the steepest hike, 92%, in Queens. Southeast Queens has been the epicenter of the city’s foreclosure crisis. Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx all had delinquency rates greater than the national average of 3.2%. At 2.6%, New York state had the 28th highest delinquency rate in the country. “When you’re two months behind on a house payment, it’s really difficult to get the funds together to catch up,” says Keith Carson, a senior consultant in TransUnion's financial services group. “For most people, by the time they get to 60 days past due they’re in significant financial distress.”