US home foreclosures doubled last month from a year ago and the nation’s biggest mortgage lender said late payments rose, suggesting that the mortgage crisis is not abating.

The number of foreclosures jumped to 223,538 in September, 99 per cent higher than the number last year, though down 8 per cent from August, according to RealtyTrac, which compiles housing data. California had the largest number of foreclosures, with 51,259, and Florida was second, with 33,354.

Nevada, which has seen explosive housing growth around Las Vegas, had the highest rate of foreclosures, with one for every 185 households. The overall foreclosure rate was one for every 557 households.

The new report on foreclosures came as Countrywide Financial (NYSE:CFC), the largest US mortgage lender, said delinquencies as a percentage of unpaid loans rose to 5.85 per cent from 4.04 per cent a year ago.

New loans issued by Countrywide fell 44 per cent as home sales slowed. Countrywide said pending foreclosures as a percentage of unpaid balances more than doubled, from 0.51 per cent to 1.27 per cent.

Issuance of adjustable rate mortgages, the cause of many of the defaults among subprime home buyers, dropped 76 per cent. Loans to buyers with poor credit histories dropped 92 per cent as Countrywide moved away from providing mortgages to risky borrowers.

Overall mortgage loan funding at Countrywide totalled $21bn (EU15bn, £10bn) in September, down from $38bn last year. Daily mortgage loan applications dropped 39 per cent to $1.7bn. David Sambol, Countrywide president, said the decline in production was due both to weak market conditions and to stricter underwriting standards.

Countrywide, which has seen its shares plunge during the subprime crisis, appeared near failure this summer when it lost access to the short-term credit markets. The lender averted a crisis after securing a $2bn equity investment from Bank of America and $12bn in new financing from its banks.

RealtyTrac said the jump in foreclosures was in part due to subprime borrowers being unable to make payments after their initially low interest rates reset to higher levels. Nearly half a million such loans will reset through next month, indicating the foreclosure rates will continue to grow.

Meanwhile, Moody’s on Thursday lowered its rating on three housebuilders, Centex (NYSE:CTX), Lennar (NYSE:LEN) and Pulte Homes (NYSE:PHM), to Ba1, a non-investment grade rating. The rating agency did not foresee improvement in the housing market until 2009 at the earliest.

“Because of the rapidity of the decline in unit home deliveries and thus of revenue, the companies continue to struggle to keep pace by reducing controllable expen­ses, such as general and administrative,” it said. “This has made, and will continue to make, it difficult for the companies to generate even minimal earnings before charges.”

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