Washington  - Lenders are taking back homes in the United States at a record pace as families can't afford mortgage payments, according to an industry report Thursday indicating the country's housing crisis deepened further at the end of last year.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said 3.3 per cent of all mortgage-holders were in foreclosure at the end of 2008 - up 126 per cent from a year ago - and 7.88 per cent were behind on at least one monthly payment.

Both numbers were the highest ever recorded since MBA's records began in 1972.

US housing prices have plummeted nearly 20 per cent in the past year and more than 8 million people now owe more money on their mortgages than their property is worth.

The downturn has cost financial institutions more than 1 trillion dollars in mortgage-related investments and plunged the wider US economy into a deep recession.

President Barack Obama on Wednesday launched a 75-billion-dollar effort to reduce the mortgage payments of up to 9 million homeowners. (dpa)