FAIRBANKS — Mortgage figures for Alaska confirm what many have said: The mix of low-risk mortgages here has helped protect housing markets from the troubles seen in many states.

As of last fall, there were half as many homeowners in Alaska with subprime, adjustable-rate mortgages (2 percent of all homeowners) than in the country as a whole when measured as a percentage of the population, the state Department of Labor reported last week.

The department analyzed data from the Mortgage Bankers Association to prepare the report, posted on its online overview of the state’s economy.

Alaska also has a far larger ratio of government-backed, low-risk mortgages. The percentage of home loans here offered through the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Federal Housing Administration was twice as high as the national average, the Department of Labor said. And only about three out of every 100 homes had owners seriously late on mortgage payments in Alaska — one-third the national average.

“The makeup of Alaska’s mortgages has had a lot to do with why Alaska has withstood the housing market collapse that continues to rumble through parts of the Lower 48,” the department’s researchers wrote.

The numbers mirror previous comments from many real estate agents in Fairbanks. Federal housing specialists work closely with the state Housing Finance Corp. and local housing agencies, said Eileen Cummings, president of the Greater Fairbanks Board of Realtors.

“These groups do a great job of screening the potential buyers and limiting the risk,” she said.

Contact staff writer Christopher Eshleman at 459-7582.