The number of Americans behind on mortgage payments rose during the third quarter of 2006, but California homeowners continued to fare better than most of the nation, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday.

The MBA reported 2.68 percent of California's 5.5 million mortgage holders were at least 30 days late on their house payments during July, August and September. Despite a sharp rise from 2.19 percent from the second quarter of this year, the newest figures are far below levels needed to drag down home values or the state's economy, analysts say.

"The delinquency rates (in California) have been so low it's almost at the level that's generated by disability, death and divorce," said Doug Duncan, chief economist of the MBA, a trade group for the nation's mortgage lenders. "They're still half the national level."

Just seven states -- Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota -- had lower delinquency rates for all home loans than California, according to the MBA's quarterly survey of delinquencies. The MBA reported that 4.67 percent of the nation's 42.6 million home loan borrowers were delinquent by at least a month.

The survey offered a fresh indicator of the financial stresses faced by people who stretched too far to buy homes during the past two years of the nation's housing boom. Many live with adjustable-rate mortgages that qualified them for a home they couldn't otherwise afford but now raise their monthly payments after an initially low rate.

"There is a large body of people who are forgoing things that we would consider everyday stuff to stay current on their mortgage," said Scott Thompson, a Roseville-based real estate broker who specializes in distressed properties. "These are good people, smart people, people you wouldn't expect to get into a loan product that was not appropriate for them."

The MBA's quarterly report does not issue delinquency percentages for specific metropolitan areas such as Sacramento. But the number of homeowners who missed at least two mortgage payments during the third quarter in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties doubled to 2,290 from the same time a year earlier, according to La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems.

That's well below 1990s levels in most counties.

Also hard hit nationally are millions of borrowers with lower incomes and credit scores. Many entered the housing market as it neared its peak, using subprime loans that bear significantly higher interest rates and monthly payments to compensate for higher risk to lenders.

In California, 9.12 percent of those holding nearly 800,000 such loans were behind on their payments, the MBA reported. The national average was 12.56 percent.

The newest U.S. delinquency figures of 4.67 percent were up from the previous quarter's 4.39 percent. But they remain slightly below a high of 4.7 percent during the final months of 2005.

Hardest hit nationally have been homeowners in Mississippi and Louisiana, which continue to deal with the aftermath of 2005's Hurricane Katrina, and Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, where thousands have been laid off from automotive-related jobs.

Analysts have cited California's robust economy and job growth for cushioning the financial fallout of a housing downturn that began last year after a five-year boom of rising prices and sales. Statewide, only 1.46 percent of those with prime loans were behind on payments, and just 0.39 of all home loans were in some stage of the foreclosure process on Sept. 30.

Foreclosure proceedings generally begin after a homeowner is at least two or three months behind in mortgage payments.

Nationally, 1.05 percent of all loans are in varying states of foreclosure, MBA reported. That's up from 0.97 percent from the same time a year ago.

Increasingly, downward pressure on home values and slowing sales have prompted lenders to be more conservative in making California home loans, said Mike Ela, president of San Juan Capistrano-based Homesmartreports. com.

The firm's California data show a 13 percent reduction in loan risk in October compared with the same time last year as the boom was unraveling.