One cause was the continuing deterioration of loanperformance as mortgage rates have risen: almost one in five subprime mortgages are now delinquent by more than 30 days or in foreclosure.
C. bought a database of subprime loans from a company called LoanPerformance in order to study the problem more closely, something that, apparently, no other government regulator had thought to do.
As a result of this deterioration in loanperformance, investors have increased their scrutiny of the credit quality of securitized mortgages, and lenders in turn are evidently tightening the terms and standards applied in the subprime mortgage market.