Delinquency on prime jumbo loans securitized during 2006 and 2007 is three times as bad as the rate on pre-2005 issuances.
The 60-day delinquency rate on securitized prime jumbo mortgages was 9.9 percent in February, Fitch Ratings reported today. The 60-day rate rose from 9.6 percent in January.
It was the 33rd consecutive month that jumbo performance has deteriorated. Fitch reported a year ago that performance on prime jumbo loans had declined “dramatically” and cited falling home prices, rising unemployment and fewer refinance options.
On just the 2006 and 2007 vintages, delinquency was 13.5 percent. But pre-2005 vintages only had a 4.5 percent rate.
Impacting the increase was California, where jumbo delinquency shot up to 11.6 percent from January’s 11.3 percent and February 2009’s 4.7 percent. Roughly 44 percent of all prime jumbo loans are secured by California properties.
In Florida, where 6 percent of all outstanding jumbo loans are, delinquency was 17 percent.
The other states where a big share of jumbo loans are concentrated include New York, which had a 6.3% delinquency rate; Virginia, where delinquency was 5.7 percent; and New Jersey, with its 7.9 percent rate.
Moody’s Investors Service said last month that it downgraded 32 tranches from 2005, 2006 and 2007 issuances of Bear Stearns ARM Trust residential mortgage-backed securities. Around $2.9 billion in prime jumbo deals were impacted.
Moody’s explained that RMBS investors face “rapidly deteriorating performance of jumbo pools in conjunction with macroeconomic conditions that remain under duress.”
