The Foreclosure Report

One In Four Lousiana Mortgages 'Past Due'

Inman News has the latest on the hurricane related foreclosures. "The latest 'Katrina Index,' a measure of economic conditions and reconstruction activity in storm-damaged Gulf Coast communities, notes that about 750,000 households remain displaced by Hurricane Katrina, and Louisiana has lost more than 100,000 people in its labor force."

"'The dramatic drop in the unemployment rate is almost entirely due to a decrease in the size of the labor force in New Orleans and Louisiana. In particular, the metro area lost 42,000 people in its labor force between November and December, while the state of Louisiana lost over 100,000 people,' the report notes."

"'Mortgage delinquency rates skyrocketed between the second and third quarter of the calendar year. In the state of Louisiana, for instance, nearly one out of every four loans is now 30 or more days past due,' according to the report."

"'The slow pace of recovery on fundamentals strongly suggests that the city and state will be unable to restore essential services on their own, and require direct federal assistance to do so. Meanwhile, the wellbeing of the nearly 750,000 households that remain displaced by Katrina is essentially not known. With New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mississippi still facing massive economic and infrastructural challenges, it is likely that many of these households will need federal assistance for many months to come,' the institute concludes."

posted by Ben Jones @ 10:30 AM