Perhaps the best news for California’s ailing housing market is that mortgage problems remain below historical norms.

That’s what my trusty spreadsheet review found in bill-payment data for consumers from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The research is based on a sample of individuals with credit histories. The Fed examined debt levels and timely payments from 2003 to the second quarter of 2025 in 11 big states – including California – and nationwide.

In the second quarter, 0.5% of all the dollars in California mortgages were 90 days late or more. That’s an improvement from the 0.6% share in the first quarter.

However, the latest reading is more than double the 0.2% rate at the late-payment bottom in 2023’s second quarter. That low came when consumers were flush with stimulus cash

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