Economy in Mississippi

The Mississippi Economic Policy Center- a nonpartisan think tank- has released a study (National Crisis Hits Home: Addressing Mississippi's Foreclosures) on the housing industry in Mississippi, and it's not looking good.

According to the report, Mississippi has the highest percentage of loans past due, and the eighth highest rate of foreclosures.

From the report:

Industry experts and analysts attribute the high rate of delinquency and foreclosure in Mississippi to two primary factors:

1. Mississippi has the highest rate of subprime lending in the country. According to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data, in 2006, 36.9% of all first mortgages originated for owner-occupied single-family homes in the state were subprime. Research shows that subprime lending can result in delinquency and foreclosure rates of up to 10 times the rates associated with prime lending.

2. Hurricane Katrina has left many homeowners unable to keep up with mortgage payments. Delinquencies on the Gulf Coast have soared in the wake of the storm. Since Hurricane Katrina, Mississippi has consistently had one of the highest delinquency rates in the country: an average of 12.04% of all loans have been past due, compared to 4.82% of all loans nationally.