Garden State Areas Near Big Apple Grows Bumper Crop of Deliquencies

Some of the worst mortgage delinquency rates in the country are in New Jersey metropolitan areas nearest New York City, according to statistics from Mortgage Information Corp., San Francisco.

The New Jersey seashore counties of Monmouth and Ocean head the national list, with 2.49% of all home loans more than 90 days behind or in foreclosure proceedings. The Newark area is not far behind, with 2.47%, and Bergen and Passaic counties are in sixth place nationally, with 2.11%.

The national average is 0.90%, and in a couple of metro areas in the South, late payments are almost nonexistent. In Greenville, S.C., the rate is 0.18%, and in Knoxville, Tenn., 0.19%.

For most of New Jersey, the story is pretty much the same as for other areas with high delinquencies: a drop in home values accompanied by a drop in personal incomes.

"To know where delinquencies are going, you have to know what the experience has been on the newer books of business," said Dan Feshback, president of Mortgage Information. He said his figures showed newer loans in the troublesome New Jersey counties have shown distinct improvement, much of it "attributable to the lower rates made during the refinancing boom."

Statistics from Mortgage Information show that loans originated nationwide in 1991 have been logging fairly sharp increases in serious delinquencies. Late payments have also increased for some newer loans, but they remain at a relatively low level.

And loans made in 1992 have improved their payment performance, "perhaps a result of borrowers refinancing into lower-payment mortgages," Mr. Feshback said.

In New Jersey, the counties with the highest present serious-delinquency rates appear to have weathered the worst of the problems. Loans originated in the last three years have showing lower delinquencies than the national averages for the same years, suggesting a downward trend for the state.

Meanwhile, home prices in New Jersey have been improving. In the third quarter of 1994, the median price in Bergen and Passaic counties - commuter land for people who work in New York - jumped 3.2%, to $199,400. The national median, meanwhile, was up by 2.7%, at $111,000. In Monmouth and Ocean counties, the median rose 3% to $140,200.

High delinquencies in other areas besides New Jersey were experienced in New York City itself, No. 5 at 2.18%; Nassau and Suffolk counties in New York, seventh with 2.03%; and Orange County, New York, third with 2.25%.

Other national statistics show a generally rising trend for serious delinquencies on FHA and VA loans; improvements for variable-rate loans; and a widening spread between 15-year and 30-year fixed, with 30-year edging up and 15-year easing downward.

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