The Affluent, Too, Are Struggling as Mortgages Adjust Upward

New York Times (03/20/08) P. C1; Birnbaum, Jane
A number of affluent households with incomes of $100,000 or more took out adjustable-rate mortgages at the peak of the real estate bubble and are now facing the prospects of mortgage payments that have, in some cases, doubled. Of the estimated 870,000 borrowers who obtained jumbo adjustable-rate mortgages from 2005 to 2007, 8.10 percent were two or more payments late, 2.62 percent were in the foreclosure process and 1.35 percent had been foreclosed by the fourth quarter of 2007--all increases from the third quarter, reports Loan Performance. Eventually, 8 percent of these mortgages of $417,000 or more will be foreclosed, predicts Moody's Economy.com.