Data from the Federal Reserve show that the amount of equity Americans have in their homes has dropped below 50% for the first time since 1945. At the same time, the number of US homes repossessions, and the speed at which they were being repossessed, hit record levels in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on residential homes stood at 5.82 percent of all loans outstanding at the end of 2007, up 0,87% from one year earlier. The delinquency rate (the percentage of home owners unable to pay their mortgage last month) does not include loans in the process of foreclosure, that is homes that are about to be repossessed by the banks because of non-payments. The percentage of loans in the foreclosure process was 2.04 percent of all loans outstandingon December 31, 2007, an increase of 0,35% from the third quarter of 2007 and 0,85% from one year ago. That means that in the last twelve month, the number of Americans who lost their home because they were not able to pay the mortgage almost doubled, from 1.19% of all mortgage subscribers to 2.04%. In the exquisite language of The Wall Street Journal, "The 1.8 million mortgages now in default have created substantial personal hardship."
