Nearly half of all subprime mortgages are late or in default

[nichomachus]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008816524_apstatesforeclosures.html

NEW YORK —

A stunning 48 percent of the nation's homeowners who have a subprime, adjustable-rate mortgage are behind on their payments or in foreclosure, and the rate for homeowners with all mortgage types hit a new record, new data Thursday showed.

But that's not the worst of it.

The reckless lending practices in states like Florida, California and Nevada that were the epicenter of the housing crisis are no longer driving up the nation's delinquency rate. Instead, the foreclosure crisis now is being fueled by a spike in defaults in states like Louisiana, New York, Georgia and Texas, where the economies are rapidly deteriorating and thousands are losing their jobs.

A record 5.4 million American homeowners with a mortgage of any kind, or nearly 12 percent, were at least one month late or in foreclosure at the end of last year, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported. That's up from 10 percent at the end of the third quarter, and up from 8 percent at the end of 2007.

[Bozita]

1. Unemployment for college/technically trained DOUBLED in 6 months

from the article:

The key is what kind of workers are losing their jobs, Brinkmann said. Unemployment for people with college degrees, some college education or technical training - those most likely to own homes and have prime fixed-rate loans - has nearly doubled over the past six months.