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MIAMI (CBS4) ― The number of homeowners missing loan payments and entering foreclosure is picking up.

The number of borrowers in Florida who were past due on their mortgages moved up to 4.86 percent in the last three months of 2006, according to new data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

More borrowers are facing the possibility of losing their homes. Foreclosure actions filed against homeowners nearly tripled in Miami-Dade and Broward counties in January and February, compared to the same months last year, according to proceedings filed with the clerks of court.

The defaults suggest mortgage debt is a growing burden on the economy, leaving some homeowners struggling to make ends meet. The result could be that homebuyers find it harder to get loans in the future as banks tighten lending standards.

Also, foreclosed houses might end up back on a market that already has too many homes for sale, dragging down prices. And cash-strapped homeowners could reduce other kinds of spending, such as retail sales.

''The Florida economy has been so strong -- people have jobs. And as long as you hold on to a job that is reasonably well-paying, you're going to be in position to service your debt,'' says Gunnar Berglund, an economist at Moody's Economy.com.

While rising delinquencies and foreclosures still represent a fraction of total households in the region. The pace is quickening. Florida was third in the country among states with the largest percentage increase in homeowners missing loan payments in the fourth quarter, according to the study released Tuesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Florida is particularly vulnerable to the risks of so-called subprime loans, which go to borrowers with lesser credit. After California, the state has the second-highest percentage of borrowers with subprime loans, generally recognized as having the greatest risk of default.

In the mortgage bankers' quarterly report, the delinquency rate for subprime loans in Florida was 12.52 percent compared to 11.14 percent last year.

In Miami-Dade and Broward counties, 23 percent and 18 percent of all loans are subprime, respectively; of those, about 6.7 percent are more than 60 days overdue, according to data from mortgage research firm First American Loan Performance.

Subprime loans typically carry interest rates 4 to 6 percent higher than loans issued to people with good credit. They include adjustable rate mortgages that offer low teaser rates and ''no doc'' loans, which require no proof of a borrowers' assets or income.

Consumer advocates have criticized the loans as exploitative, claiming lenders relaxed standards and granted the mortgages despite the increased chances borrowers couldn't pay. But during the real estate boom, a combination of low interest rates and rapidly rising home values made offering these mortgages a seemingly safe bet.

And investors, who buy pools of mortgages on the secondary market, were hungry for the high yields that came with riskier products, making more funds available to write new loans. In the wake of rising defaults, however, those investors are now cutting off their support, leading to a sudden rise in the price of subprime credit.

Meanwhile, the increase in defaults is sending business soaring for professionals involved in the foreclosure business.

Alan Rosenthal, who supervises the mortgage litigation practice at Coral Gables-based Adorno & Yoss, said the firm was seeing a ''huge spike'' in foreclosure cases initiated by lenders.

''I don't believe we have seen the full impact of these what I call junk loans -- the negative amortization loans and all these other weird loans. They are too new,'' he said. And real estate professionals are gearing up for what could be the start of a surge of homeowners desperate to sell.

((© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed material for this repo)