California Home-Loan Defaults Rise to a Decade High

(Bloomberg) - California mortgage defaults rose to the highest level in a decade in the second quarter as falling home sales and higher interest rates battered the housing market.


Californians are struggling to repay home loans as mortgage rates jumped to an 11-month high and tighter lending standards limited their ability to refinance. Southern California home sales last month slumped 36 percent to the lowest for a June in 14 years and San Francisco Bay Area sales fell 26 percent to a 12-year low, mirroring the national slump, DataQuick said last week. More...