Instead of mailing in their monthly mortgage payment, a growing number of homeowners are sending lenders their keys.

As housing prices fall and rates on some mortgage loans rise, more homeowners are walking away from their homes, according to housing-market watchers.

These typically are people who can afford their mortgage but don’t want to pay on a loan that is more than their house is worth. They’ll live with the stigma or credit ding from a foreclosure just to get out from under their loan.

The growing trend, called “jingle mail,” is pushing up foreclosures and alarming market watchers, particularly in metropolitan Phoenix, where home prices have dropped 18 percent in the past year.

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