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At a press conference accompanying release of the results from its Fourth Quarter 2011 National Delinquency Study (NDS) , the Mortgage Banker Association's ( MBA ) Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Research and Education Jay Brinkmann said he is frequently asked how long it might be before delinquencies and foreclosures return to "normal." He said he typically answers that "we are about halfway there." Delinquencies during "normal" times averaged around 5 percent but spiked to 10.1 during the recession. Now the rate is at 7.6, half-way there. Foreclosure starts generally run around 0.40 percent but hit 1.41 percent in 2009 and are now just below 1percent; almost halfway there. Foreclosures however are not halfway there. They were running around 1 percent pre-recession and rose to...()