Not really a surprise for anyone that’s been paying even half-attention, but the third quarter numbers for foreclosures in the US don’t exactly paint a pretty picture:

The Mortgage Bankers Association in its quarterly snapshot of the mortgage market released Thursday said that the percentage of all mortgages nationwide that started the foreclosure process jumped to a record high of 0.78 percent during the July-to-September period. That surpassed the previous high of 0.65 percent set in the prior quarter.

The delinquency rate for all mortgages climbed to 5.59 percent in the third quarter. That was up from 5.12 percent in the second quarter and was the highest since 1986, the association said.

All signs point to things getting worse before they get better, so expect the next few quarters to continue to set more “record highs”.

News like this probably bolsters the arguments that mortgage bailout plans are necessary to keep the overall economy from sliding into a recession, but plenty of folks believe that attempts to stem the forecoslure tide are just sticking your finger in the dam.

I’m still a bit baffled that people seem to believe that we can have a wild speculative run-up in home prices throughout much of the country, reap those benefits (whee, money), yet somehow avoid the inevitable consequences when the correction comes (i.e. lots and lots of foreclosures).