Nearly 1 percent of active residential mortgages in Alaska were in foreclosure at the end of the third quarter of 2011, in contrast to nearly 4 percent nationwide. The nation is still recovering from a severe jump in foreclosures at the height of the recent recession. There’s no question about it — national foreclosures were a crisis in 2009.

However, while Alaska more or less weathered the storm that battered so many communities, Alaska is no stranger to foul economic weather. Although Alaska’s rate has been far below the nation’s over the past few years, the recession in Alaska in the late 1980s was severe. Based on data collected by the Mortgage Bankers Association, the Alaska foreclosure rate at the height of the 1980s recession was higher than the national foreclosure rate in 2009.

Tags: foreclosures, recession