The national mortgage delinquency rate fell to 7.97% in January, a slight sequential improvement, and an 11% drop from the same month a year ago, according to “first look” figures compiled by Lender Processing Services.
However, LPS said the foreclosure inventory rate is 4.15%, up roughly 1% from December and virtually unchanged from the same month one year prior.
According to LPS, servicers are dealing with 6 million properties where the borrowers are over 30 days late on their payments or in foreclosure.
The foreclosure inventory consists of 2.1 million properties, while nearly 4 million properties are 30 days late but the lender has not foreclosed. (A subset of that number is 1.9 million properties where the borrower is at least 90 days late, but the lender has not started foreclosure proceedings).
The states with the highest percentage of noncurrent loans include Florida, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey and Illinois.
States with the lowest percentage of noncurrent loans are Montana, Arkansas, Wyoming, South Dakota and North Dakota.
