Mortgage delinquencies hit lowest level since 2008
Foreclosure rate is 3 times higher in judicial foreclosure states
BY INMAN NEWS, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013.
House and life preserver image via Shutterstock.
Unless you live in a state where courts handle foreclosure proceedings, don't expect a flood of distressed properties to relieve for-sale inventory shortages anytime soon.
Both the share of U.S. mortgage loans in delinquency and those in the foreclosure process hit their lowest levels since 2008 last quarter, according to the latest national survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The share of loans on one- to four-unit residential properties that had missed at least one mortgage payment fell to a seasonally adjusted 7.09 percent in the fourth quarter, down from 7.4 percent in the third quarter and 7.58 percent in fourth-quarter 2011. That's the lowest delinquency rate since 2008, MBA said.
And though delinquency rates typically rise between the third and fourth quarter, even the non-seasonally adjusted rate fell to 7.51 percent in the fourth quarter, the trade group added.
The delinquency rate does not include loans in the foreclosure process. The percentage of loans that went into foreclosure for the first time last quarter was 0.7 percent, down from 0.9 percent in the third quarter and 0.99 percent in fourth-quarter 2011. That's the lowest rate of foreclosure starts since the second quarter of 2007, the MBA said.
Overall, 3.74 percent of mortgage loans were in the foreclosure process at the end of last quarter. That's down from 4.34 percent a year ago, and the lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2008.
Read more: http://www.inman.com/news/2013/02/21/mortgage-delinquencies-hit-lowest-level-2008
