Note from the Publisher:  Fintech giant Equifax, a consumer credit agency, is reporting today that first mortgage defaults are at their lowest level since January 2007.  This is seemingly encouraging economic news, although there are several areas of the US that are still at elevated numbers.  They include Puerto Rico (3x the national default average), Nevada (2x the average), Florida, NJ and Delaware, amongst others.

"ATLANTA, Aug. 9, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Equifax Inc. (NYSE:  EFX), a global information solutions provider, today announced the release of its June 2016 Equifax National Consumer Credit Trends Report. The monthly report, analyzing data from over 220 million consumers, found the first mortgage write-off rate in the U.S. to be 3.3 basis points1 (100ths of a percentage point) of outstanding balances, while the total number of first mortgage defaults in June was 17,909, the lowest since January 2007. Equifax defines a write-off as a loan terminated in severe derogatory status, which for mortgage loans most often means a loan terminated when a bank seizes the collateral property through a foreclosure process...

'The backlog of foreclosures from the financial crisis finally appears to be waning and write-offs are returning to historically-normal levels,' said Amy Crews Cutts, senior vice president and chief economist at Equifax. 'Rising home values have helped significantly, as have improving labor markets. Given the low inventory of homes for sale and the overall improving credit profile of the U.S. consumer, we expect home sales to maintain the upward trend we've seen in the first half of the year and for mortgage default performance to continue its downward path.'"

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