US home foreclosures hit new all-time high

05 June 2008 17:07  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--US home foreclosures hit a record high in the first four months of 2008, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said on Thursday.

The spate of delinquent payments on all outstanding home loans stood at 6.35% at the end of April on a seasonally-adjusted basis, up 53 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2007 in a sign of the moribund US residential real estate market.

Foreclosures typically result in auctions where homes tend to be sold at a discount to fair market value since banks seek to unload seized properties quickly to recover losses. The discounts can depress market values for new and existing real estate and discourage new home construction.

Home building is a key end-market for a wide range of chemicals and chemical-related products, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), paints and coatings, and plywood which consumes methanol in its manufacture.

The foreclosure rate was the highest on record since 1978, the MBA said.

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By: John Waggoner
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