Higher delinquency rates on home mortgages in the second quarter could adversely effect collateral backing residential mortgage-backed securities, Standard & Poor’s said Wednesday. S&P says delinquencies on residential mortgage loans rose in the past two quarters after showing signs of improvement during three consecutive quarters last year. In quarter two, the total delinquency rate on one-to-four unit residential properties rose to 8.44% of all loans outstanding, up from 8.32% in the first quarter and down 9.85% from 2Q 2010, S&P said. The Mortgage Bankers Association noted a similar trend earlier in the week, reporting a quarter-over-quarter increase in mortgage delinquencies during the first two periods of 2011. MBA recorded an 8.44% delinquency rate for mortgages backing one-to-four family properties in the second quarter. That is up 12 basis points from the first quarter, but down 141 basis points from the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, foreclosure activity fell in the first part of the year, with the percentage of foreclosure starts on all loans hitting 0.96% in 2Q, down 12 basis points from the first quarter and 15 points from a year ago. Write to: Kerri Panchuk.