Biz journalists keep pace with mortgage report

(Creative Commons)

Mortgage delinquencies. Foreclosure rates. Housing starts. Home sales. Price trends.

With so many factors to analyze and keep up with in the housing market, business journalists have found today’s news cycle has again put the issue in the foreground with a new report from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Washington Post’s Renae Merle reports on the 14 percent of homebuyers who were delinquent on paying their mortgage at the end of September, according to the the Mortgage Bankers Association. That’s a full 14 percent of homeowners not paying their mortgage on time. It’s a shocking percentage, and one that should be at the top of any story covering the report, as it is in the Washington Post.

The Associated Press story, run by The Seattle Post Intelligencer among others, addressed how unemployment and housing prices factor into the housing market equation. But readers never get sense of just how many homeowners are behind — again, a full 14 percent. Instead, the article mentions the Mortgage Bankers report as one that “suggests the housing market is under pressure from the surge in home loan defaults.” Ya think? While the article has several stats related to the market, it’s only in the cutline that we see the real newsy number —  the 14 percent behind in payments.

The New York Times’ David Streitfeld cut right to the chase. In an article headlined “U.S. Mortgage Delinquencies Reach a Record High,” the lead can’t be better at getting to the point saying, “Nearly one in 10 homeowners with mortgages were at least one payment behind in September.”  It’s a great example of how to take a report pivotal to the housing crisis and present the key information to readers.