The rate of serious delinquency on first-lien home loans and home-equity loans was lower last month. New York was the only large city to see deterioration in its overall consumer delinquency rate.
Past-due payments of at least three months on residential first mortgages accounted for 1.41 percent of all residential loans outstanding as of March 31.
The 90-day delinquency rate was lower than in February, when the 90-day delinquency rate on home loans was 1.48 percent.
The improvement was far greater compared to a year earlier, when the rate of late payments on U.S. mortgages stood at 1.88 percent.
The delinquency level was included as part of the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices.
On second mortgages, the 90-day delinquency rate was 0.69 last month, improving from the previous month’s 0.71 percent. The second mortgage rate was 1.03 percent in March 2012.
The composite delinquency rate, which additionally factors in performance on bank cards and auto loans, also improved — falling to 1.50 percent from 1.55 percent in February and 1.96 percent in March 2012.
Among the five metropolitan statistical areas tracked in the report, Miami’s 2.93 percent composite delinquency rate was highest, while Dallas’ 1.20 percent was lowest.
New York was the only MSA to see deterioration in March, with the composite rate jumping 38 BPS from February.
