Strategic Home Defaults Declining

New York, NY, June 27, 2011 -- Defaults in which homeowners abandon their homes despite being able to afford the mortgage payment are on the decline, after peaking in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to a report by Experian.

Twenty percent of mortgages with payments 60 days or more past due were strategic defaults in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the report.

The strategic-default rate fell to 17% by the second quarter of 2010, the most recent quarter for which data is available.

“Homeowners have to see for themselves that their neighbors’ houses are selling for higher prices,” the report read. “So far, home prices nationwide continue to decline in most regions.”