54,384 home mortgages in Minnesota had payments that were past due as of December, according to statistics compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association.
That’s six percent of all mortgages in the state, which is a lot of distressed mortgages, but Minnesota’s rate was tied (with Nebraska) for 11th lowest (best) among the states.
Thirty-eight states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico were higher than Minnesota.
The national rate was 7.88 percent.
The states that were had lower (better) past-due rates were mostly rural, including both Dakotas.
The states with the lowest rates were:
- North Dakota: 3.56%
- Alaska: 3.81
- South Dakota: 3.97
- Wyoming: 4.09
- Montana: 4.27
- Oregon: 5.10
- Washington: 5.10
- Hawaii 5.29
- Vermont: 5.30
- Colorado: 5.61
- Minnesota: 6.0
- Nebraska 6.0
The list of the hardest hit states reflected no particular pattern as to geography or population. They were:
- Puerto Rico: 11.72
- Nevada: 11.12
- Florida: 11.09
- Michigan: 11.08
- Georgia 10.73
- Indiana: 10.59
With so many kinds of economic distress abroad in the land, it’s hard to know which is the best measure of misery. But this is one. The Mortgage Bankers Association data was circulated by the office of U.S. Rep. James Oberstar in connection with the legislation now moving through Congress to deal with the mortgage foreclosure problem.
There may (reasonably) be a correlation between the distressed mortgage rate and unemployment rate.