One of eight US households with a mortgage ended the first quarter late on loan payments or in the foreclosure process in a crisis that will persist for at least another year until unemployment peaks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

US unemployment in April reached its highest rate in more than 26 years and is still rising, helping propel mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures to record highs.

Such economic weakness drove up foreclosures of prime fixed-rate loans, which are made to the most creditworthy borrowers. The foreclosure rate on those loans doubled in the last year and represented the largest share of new foreclosures in the first three months of this year.

The pace of defaulting mortgages jumped despite various moratoriums and government steps to cut home loan rates. Rates on 30-year mortgages averaged 5% in March, 5.13% in February and 5.05% in January, according to Freddie Mac. A year earlier, the average monthly rates were bumping up closer to 6%.

A record 12.07% of loans on one-to-four unit residences were at least one payment late or in the foreclosure process, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis. Prime fixed-rate loans comprise 65% of the $9.9tn in outstanding first mortgages, according to the industry group. Foreclosure actions were started on an all-time high 1.37% of first mortgages in the quarter, a record increase from 1.08% the prior quarter.