The number of U.S. home mortgages that are delinquent or in foreclosure has climbed to a record high of 11 percent, according to a report Thursday from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The MBA’s National Delinquency Report found that delinquencies alone, measured by borrowers behing at least one month behind in their mortgage payments, increased by 8 percent in the last quarter of 2008.

“Subprime ARM loans and prime ARM loans, which include Alt-A and pay-option ARMs, continue to dominate the delinquency numbers,” Jay Brinkmann, chief economist for the MBA, said in a prepared statement. “Nationwide, 48% of subprime ARMs were at least one payment past due, and in Florida over 60% of subprime ARMs were at least one payment past due.”

While the current numbers represent record highs in the 36-year history of the MBA survey, they may not paint a complete picture of today’s housing market. The percentage of Americans who are homeowners grew dramatically during the recent housing boom when financing was cheap and readily available. Many entered the ranks of homeowning, who were obviously not financially able to take on that responsibility, as evidenced by all the sub-prime, or poor credit loans that were in initiated in the last five years and that are now in delinquency or foreclosure.

When the unsustainable housing bubble burst, those who were never truly able to afford the homes they  bought defaulted on their loans, a glut of foreclosed homes entered the market, investors got nervous, the stock market plummeted and the general economy hit the breaks, leading to job loss and foreclosure among even those traditional, good credit borrowers who entered the housing market with proper precautions. 

Many see this latest report as a further call to action for Washington politicians, but based on the circumstances of the situation, it is questionable whether saving homeowners from foreclosure will truly correct the housing market and the economy. An unsustainable situation has begun the natural process of rebalancing itself. And while some on Capitol Hill are horrified at the possibility, true equilibrium for the housing market may mean that many American homeowners may have to give up that title until they are actually able to afford it on their own.