Tracking Rhode Island’s mortgage crisis in its fourth year
June 1st, 2011 at 7:00 am by Ted Nesi under Nesi's Notes
Bill McBride of the must-read economics blog Calculated Risk posted two interesting charts last month about the mortgage delinquency crisis that I thought I’d share. They’re a reminder of just how much the housing crisis has affected Rhode Island.
This first one shows the delinquency rates in the 10 worst-hit states at three points over the last four years: around the start of the housing crisis (January-March 2007), a year ago (January-March 2010) and this past winter (January-March 2011).
The data comes from the Mortgage Bankers Association; Rhode Island is second from the right:
A couple things stand out to me in this one. Rhode Island’s rate of seriously delinquent mortgages is quite high – ninth-worst in the nation. The percentage of delinquent mortgages in Rhode Island nearly tripled, from 5.5% to 14%, between 2007 and 2010. And while the total delinquency rate fell by a bit more than a percentage point over the past year, the share actually in foreclosure continued to rise.
This second chart has the same information as the last column of the first one. It shows the delinquency rates for all 50 states, sorted by level of serious delinquency. Rhode Island is ninth-worst, so it’s near the left side:
As a side note, reading Calculated Risk is one of the ways I learned how valuable good charts can be when it comes to reporting about money. Bill’s are much nicer than mine, partly because he’s smarter than me and actually understands Excel!
(charts: Calculated Risk)
Tags: economy, foreclosures, home prices, home sales, housing, mortgages
Nesi's Notes covers politics and the economy in and around Rhode Island for WPRI.com. (Twitter: 
Great post Ted. Rhode Island has been seriously affected by the foreclosure crisis. Fortunately, there are programs working in Rhode Island to help some families and communities avoid the worst affects of the foreclosure crisis. For example, Building Homes Rhode Island, the state’s housing bond, has awarded $22 million to rehabilitate and turn 440 foreclosed or dilapidated units into quality, long-term affordable homes. This is stabilizing communities while providing badly needed long-term affordable homes to Rhode Islanders.
It’s clear that the housing crisis has played a key role in Rhode Island’s current economic recession. Likewise, programs working to mitigate the impact of foreclosures, like Building Homes Rhode Island and the Neighborhood Opportunities Program, will benefit the state’s economy. Without consistent state investment in these programs, Rhode Island will remain vulnerable to instabilities in the housing market and ensuing problems such as the foreclosure crisis.
[...] A look at Rhode Island’s mortgage delinquency crisis in its fourth [...]
very nice post .I like to read.