[Leanan]

More air being let out of the housing bubble...

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')ore Americans fell behind on their mortgage payments at the end of last year as they struggled in the face of hurricane damage, rising interest rates, higher gas prices and holiday credit card bills, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday.

The percentage of Americans who were delinquent on their home loans rose to 4.7% in the fourth quarter, the highest level since mid-2003. Late mortgage payments soared in the hurricane-stricken states of Louisiana and Mississippi.

And homes going into foreclosure reached alarming levels in a handful of Midwest states — Ohio, Indiana and Michigan — that were once the backbone of industrial America but have seen an exodus of manufacturing jobs.