- Private Homebuilders in the US: Dead Men Walking
- Dividend Payout Could Hit Record Amount This Year
- With Investors So Bullish, Stock Pullback Must Be Ahead
- Is Bill Gross, PIMCO's Bond King, Losing His Touch?
- Why Saving Greece Could Destroy the World
- Apple’s Record Run: $500 Is a Magic Number
- Housing Still Hurting Consumers, Economy: Bernanke
- Get Ready for $5 Gas This Year: Ex-Shell CEO
- The World's Best Beers
MOST SHARED
- How Rescuing Greece Could Destroy the World
- A King Dollar GOP?
- How to Date a Wall Street Man
- Mario Monti on Italy's Economic Future
- The World's Best Beers
- Dow vs. S&P 500: Which is a Better Investment?
- Mick Fleetwood on the MP3 ‘Dumbing Down’ of Music
- Mario Monti's Efforts Good Enough?
- Blue Ivy Gets Trademarked by Beyonce and Jay-Z
- Greek PM on New Debt Deal
MOST POPULAR
HOT ON FACEBOOK
Speculators Make Up Bulk of Mortgage Defaults: WSJ
Text Size 
People who bought houses as an investment rather than to live in them make up an important proportion of mortgage defaults, a survey showed on Friday, casting a clearer light on the role of investors in the current credit crisis.
The survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) quoted by the Wall Street Journal found that in Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada, between 21% and 32% of defaults on prime-quality home loans were by people who did not occupy the properties.
Overdue payments are piling up in the four states, and defaults were high on both prime and subprime loans, the WSJ said.
It said the four states were among those favored by speculators during the housing boom, with many buying homes in the hope of selling them quickly at a profit.
But with that strategy backfiring after home prices tumbled, investors just "simply walked away from their mortgages," Doug Duncan, chief economist of the MBA, told the paper.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
