It’s true and it’s tragic. The mortgage crisis continues as St. Louis-ites lag behind on their mortgage payments. According to data from First American CoreLogic, a leader in loan evaluations, one in every 23 borrowers in the St. Louis area was, at least, 90 days behind. That is based on figures noted in May of this year.

Around 4.3 percent of the area is currently struggling. That’s quite a jump from the 3 percent noted the same time last year. At that time, only one in 33 borrowers were late on payments.

Foreclosures continue to rise also, with May’s figures at 1.1 percent. They sat at 0.8 percent in May of last year. The number of homes repossessed by lenders has fallen, however, to 0.4 percent in May. Last year at the same time revealed 0.6 percent. That’s a 0.2 percent reduction.

These figures suggest that banks are waiting longer to take over property in foreclosure. This could be due to lenders simply allowing borrowers more time to work out their financial troubles.

There could be two other reasons responsible for the delay, however. Lenders may need more time to process the foreclosures due to the profusion of foreclosures. They also may have such an abundance of foreclosures on their hands that they see it as fortuitous if they take more time to work out an amenable repayment plan or loan modification with borrowers.

Nationwide, 6.5 percent of mortgage loans are past due 90 days or longer, and 2.5 percent of homes are in foreclosure. St. Louis, in particular, is faring better than national statistics at 4.3 percent of homes 90 days or more past due and 1.1 percent in foreclosure. Could this be a sign that this region’s real estate market is stabilizing? It’s possible.

Many real estate proponents are reporting that we’ve weathered the worst of the sub-prime mortgage crisis. However, borrowers with more traditional prime mortgages are now struggling with payments due to job loss and declining home values.

Some experts say that these factors will perpetuate overdue mortgage payments, and keep foreclosure figures high for quite a while.