Mortgage debt among older American homeowners rose during the years when the housing bubble was inflating – reversing the long-standing trend of declining debt as retirement approached. At the same time, older homeowners are sinking underwater on those mortgages at above-average rates.

Now, growing numbers of older homeowners are deciding to default on their mortgages  even when they could continue to pay — so-called strategic default–after deciding that continuing to pay doesn’t make sense.

Read more in my post this week at Reuters.com.

Related posts:

1. Strategic default: The book that banks don’t want you to read
2. Housing collapse prompts growing focus on strategic mortgage defaults
3. The ethics of strategic default
4. Older Americans taking a big hit in foreclosure crisis
5. Communities not keeping pace with aging homeowners

Tags | housing, real estate, Reuters