The Fed Gets "Visual"

Robert Folsom reports:

If you've wanted to see precisely how widespread the subprime debacle has become, I came across an online tool today that can give you a pretty good idea. And it really is precise: you can see the picture on a national level, or drill down to data for states, counties, and even ZIP codes.

At each of these levels, the tool will report on a dozen categories of data regarding subprime conditions, from the share of subprime mortgages "90+ days delinquent" to the share of late payments in the past 12 months to the share that comprise "low/no doc" loans.

As for the source of this information, it comes courtesy of the Federal Reserve Bank. The "Dynamic Maps" it presents have an accompanying "Technical Appendix" and other supporting data. I will say that the tool is easy to use and eye-opening indeed. I looked at the subprime data for my ZIP code -- which has had a relatively stable real estate market about an hour north of Atlanta -- and compared it to a ZIP code in Ft. Lauderdale, FL where I had lived for many years.

Here's the map