RUTHERFORD COUNTY, TN - Nationally, total mortgage debt now stands at more than $12 trillion and accounts for more than 70% of the total debt held by U.S. households. Outstanding mortgage debt rose sharply over the past several years as below-average interest rates, elevated demand for housing, and a surge in residential construction pushed new mortgage originations to record levels.
The Tennessee mortgage delinquency rate is currently worse than the U.S. average. During 2020 and 2021, 2.1% of home mortgages in the Volunteer State were at least 30-days delinquent, according to ConstructionCoverage.com. The report also found that .5% of Tennessee mortgages were 90-days or more behind in payments. The average mortgage debt of Tennesseans stands at $147,693.
Local Statistics - Statistics in Middle Tennessee indicate Murfreesboro area residents are doing better than the national average when it comes to making mortgage payments on time. Locally, the percentage of mortgages that are delinquent by at least 30-days stands at 1.6% - the national average is 1.9%. The percentage of Murfreesboro, Nashville, and Franklin residents that are 90-days or more behind on their mortgage stands at .4% - the national average stands at .5%.
In West Tennessee, a whopping 2.8% of Memphis residents are 30-days behind on their mortgage payment and .8% are 90-days or more behind on their payment.
Regionally, states in the South and pockets of the East Coast tend to have the highest delinquency rates. For example, Mississippi, Louisiana, and West Virginia are the top three states for both 30-day and 90-day mortgage delinquencies. Other states with high rates of missed payments include Alabama and Arkansas. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Oregon, Washington, and California report the lowest rates of delinquent mortgages.
Similar trends hold at the local level with major metropolitan areas in the South—like New Orleans, San Antonio, and Memphis—reporting high rates. Residents in West Coast metros like San Jose, San Francisco, and San Diego, on the other hand, are far less likely to miss a mortgage payment.
