Expect more woes with prime home-equity loans
New data seem to confirm fears that Countrywide Financial is not the only lender facing problems with prime home-equity loans.
Countrywide set off a panic in the stock and bond markets when it said a week ago that 4.6 percent of its prime home-equity loans were delinquent or in foreclosure as of June 30, up sharply from 3.8 percent three months ago and 1.8 percent a year ago.
Although subprime delinquency rates have been soaring, Countrywide was the first major lender to report rising delinquencies among prime borrowers with higher credit scores. But it won’t be the last.
Industrywide, the percentage of prime home-equity loans at least 60 days delinquent has more than doubled to 1.14 percent in May from 0.51 percent in May 2006, according to new data from First American LoanPerformance.
Most borrowers use home-equity loans and lines of credit to take cash out of their existing homes or to buy a home when they don’t have a big enough down payment to avoid mortgage insurance. In the latter case, the home-equity loan is added to the first mortgage and often called a piggyback. LoanPerformance found rising delinquencies in both types of home-equity loans.