Mortgage delinquencies overall remain well below 2011 levels, but the U.S. loan delinquency rate still edged up 0.74% from November to December, Lender Processing Services said Wednesday.
The mortgage data and analytics firm released its LPS First Look Mortgage Report for December, revealing a 7.17% mortgage delinquency rate in the U.S. This means 7.17% of all U.S. mortgages analyzed by LPS, excluding those in foreclosure, were at least 30 days past due last month.
The positive news is delinquencies are still down year-over-year, dropping 9.11% from December of 2011.
The nation’s foreclosure inventory also declined 1.99% from November and fell 18.05% from last year, with the pre-sale foreclosure inventory rate hitting 3.44% in December 2012.
The number of properties that are 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure, reached 3.5 million last month, while mortgages that are seriously delinquent – or 90 or more days past due – hit 1.54 million.
States with the highest percentage of non-current loans include Florida, Mississippi, New Jersey, Nevada and New York.
Furthermore, LPS says the states of Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming have the lowest percentage of delinquent mortgages.
