拖欠期款与丧失抵押品赎回权

　　Staving off the repo man

　　阻止回购者

　　丧失抵押品赎回权.jpg

　　When the global housing boom turned to bust, mortgage arrears spiked. In America, the proportion of troubled loans rose from 0.2% before the financial crisis to a peak of 11% in 2012. In Ireland 18% of all mortgages are now in arrears; by value, they account for 23% of the market.

　　当全球房地产业由繁荣变得萧条，按揭贷款拖欠就上升了。2012年，美国不良贷款的比例从金融危机前的0.2%上升至11%的历史新高。目前，爱尔兰18%的抵押贷款处于拖欠状态。据估测，拖欠金额占了市场份额的23%。

　　This crisis is partly self-inflicted. In Greece and Ireland, where foreclosure is very difficult, arrears have piled up. Greece has banned almost all repossessions since 2008. That means the total cost to local banks of the property crash is still worryingly uncertain. A recent paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta found that slowing foreclosure in America lowered, rather than supported, property prices during the crisis. Banks may need to be cruel to borrowers to be kind to the wider economy.

　　这场危机部分是由自己造成的。在希腊和爱尔兰，欠款者不易丧失抵押品赎回权，他们的欠款累积成堆。自2008年起，希腊就废除了绝大多数没收抵押物的条例。这就意味着对于本地银行，房地产崩盘的损失总额仍然是不确定的，这令其忧心忡忡。亚特兰大联邦储蓄银行最近发布一篇文章称：在经济危机期间，美国国内丧失抵押品赎回权的速度放缓，但这并没有维持住房地产价格，反而拉低了房价。银行可能需要严待借贷者，而善待更加广泛的经济。