by Calculated Risk on 9/05/2008 06:33:00 PM

Yes, Fannie and Freddie is the big story today (and this weekend). And DSL and BKUNA are interesting too.

But Housing Wire has more on the MBA Foreclosure and Delinquency data released today: MBA: Prime ARMs Set Tone for Troubled Mortgages in Q2

Jay Brinkmann, the MBA’s newly-named chief economist, managed to irk more than a few servicing managers we spoke with by suggesting that the woes in the two most troubled U.S. states throughout the housing mess were masking improvements elsewhere — and then using two states that have seen foreclosures artificially lowered by recent legislation to make his point.

“Massachusetts showed a very large drop in foreclosure starts, perhaps signaling a bottom,” Brinkmann said in the group’s press statement.
...
There’s one big problem with his logic: during Q2, both Massachusetts and Maryland in particular saw highly-publicized changes in notice requirements that significantly extended the borrower default notice period from 30 to 90 days in each state. ...

“Of course foreclosure starts have slowed since [the two states] extended demand letters,” said one servicing manager, who asked not to be identified by name. ...

A senior vice president at a large subprime servicer, who asked not to be named, said that the suggestion of a market bottom in Massachusetts was “just plain ludicrous.”

“We’re already starting to see a sharp increase within the state as the effect of the new notice period wears off,” he said.

Of course the bigger MBA story was the shift towards Prime ARM foreclosures.