Amid the widening collapse of the subprime market, Countrywide Financial Corp. said Tuesday it has stopped funding subprime home loans that don’t require a down payment or proof of income.

The Calabasas-based lender will still offer nearly all of its other loan options to qualified subprime borrowers who can document income and make the required down payments. The company said the move will have no effect on prime borrowers.

The announcement comes after the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Tuesday that delinquencies in all categories of mortgages rose to 4.95 percent, the highest level since the second quarter of 2003.

The group added that more than 13 percent of subprime borrowers were behind on payments in the quarter, the highest rate since the third quarter of 2002.

“Although the U.S. economy and the job market remain solid, the housing market continued to decelerate in the fourth quarter,” said Doug Duncan, the association’s chief economist.

The data is worrisome because delinquency rates are an early indicator of mortgage defaults, an increase of which would contribute to further declines in the housing market.

Shares in Countrywide were down $1.51, or 4.3 percent, to $33.63 in afternoon trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.