Courtesy of Calculated Risk, this chart shows FannieMae and FreddieMac’s reporting on serious delinquencies for U.S. mortgages in the last 20 years. While there is much speculation about whether there is an asset bubble in the housing sector, this indicator shows that the fundamentals may still be holding.
The peak of the serious delinquencies occurred when it hit 4.2% in February 2010. It now rests at 0.92%.
To accurately forecast where this heads, this trend would need to be cross-referenced with U.S. household debt, as well as the risk associated with financial instruments based on mortgages. This might show if America is at risk of a repeat of its mistakes of the mid-2000s.