Nationwide, homeowners with mortgages of more than $1 million are defaulting at almost twice the U.S. rate.  In Orange County CA.,  the ratio is almost the same, and many of these property owners are turning to Short Sales to unload properties as stock-market losses and pay cuts squeeze wealthy borrowers.  Some Orange County upper end homeowners  have reached the point where they can’t afford the carrying expenses of a $2 million home.

Nationwide, payments on about 12 percent of mortgages exceeding $1 million were 90 days or more overdue in September, compared with 6.3 percent on loans less than $250,000, according to data from First American CoreLogic Inc.  The rate for mortgages above $1 million was 4.7 percent a year earlier.  In Orange County, about 16% of mortgages exceeding $1 Mil are 90 days or more delinquent. 

Short sales almost tripled to 40,000 in the first six months of 2009 from the same period a year earlier Nationwide, according to data from the Office of Thrift Supervision. In Orange County, there were 2,390 short sale closing in the first 6 months of 2009, compared to just 1,007 for the same period a year before, which represents more than a 100% increase.  For the entire year of 2009′, there were 5,414 short sale closings, and 114 of those properties were priced at $1 Million or more.

There are 114,000 home loans of more than $1 million Nationwide, according to First American.  About a quarter of all mortgaged homes in the U.S. have loan balances bigger than their current value, known as being upside down or underwater.  For more information about short sales in Orange County California, feel free to email us at: Info@ShortSalesASAP.com, or call us at: (949) 254-4775, or visit our website at:  www.ShortSalesASAP.com