The national delinquency rate continues to decline on a yearly basis with the latest figures from Lender Processing Services revealing a 9.6% drop in the amount of late mortgage payments from May 2011.
In the Jacksonville, Fla.-based analytic firm’s “first look” mortgage report, the delinquency rate of loans 30 or more days past due but not in foreclosure is currently at 7.2%, down from 7.96% a year ago.
However, the May 2012 delinquency rate did increase from the prior month’s report by 1.1%, when the rate was 7.12%.
The LPS delinquency rate is derived from its loan-level database of nearly 40 million mortgage loans.
Approximately 3.5 million mortgagors nationwide are behind in their monthly payments by at least 30 days, while more than 1.5 million homeowners are considered to be seriously delinquent, but not in foreclosure.
The foreclosure presale inventory rate dropped slightly in May from April to 4.12% from 4.14%. LPS said more than 2 million properties are classified as foreclosure presale through May.
States that have the highest percentage on noncurrent loans are Florida, Mississippi, New Jersey, Nevada and Illinois.
Meanwhile, the fewest amount of delinquent loans are found in Montana, Arkansas, South Dakota, Wyoming and North Dakota.
