A new report indicates that the risk of mortgage default has fallen to the lowest level in five years.
The report was announced today by the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.
The UFA Default Risk Index fell to 158 in the first-quarter 2010, the statement said. The index was down from the fourth quarter’s 164.
It was the lowest point for the index since 2005. The peak was reached in 2007: 330.
The UFA index reportedly measures the risk of default on newly originated mortgages by tracking local and national economic conditions. Slowing depreciation contributed to the latest improvement.
“Although house prices will continue to decline, the rate of decline has decelerated,” Dennis Capozza, founding principal of University Financial Associates, said in the report. “The hardest-hit areas have begun to return to sustainable levels.”
