The rate of late payments on residential loans inched lower last month, though the improvement was bigger for junior liens.
First mortgages that were at least 90 days past due accounted for 1.40 percent of all U.S. first liens in August.
Last month’s delinquency level was a slight improvement from July, when the 90-day rate was 1.41 percent.
The figures were included in the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices from S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian.
Delinquency has fallen from a year earlier, when the rate was 1.92 percent.
The performance of second mortgages was even better, with the 90-day rate declining to 0.72 percent from 0.75 percent in July. It was the lowest level on record for second mortgages based on eight years of available data.
The second mortgage rate has plummeted from 1.27 percent in August 2011.
The composite index, which additionally factors in delinquency on bank cards and auto loans, slipped to 1.50 percent last month from 1.51 percent and was 2.04 percent in the same month last year. It was a post-recession low for the composite index.
“While continuing to fall, most of the August changes in default rates were small compared to what we saw in the first half of the year,” David M. Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee for S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in the report.
Among the five-largest metropolitan statistical areas, Miami’s 2.62 percent delinquency rate was highest and worse than 2.39 percent in July.
At 1.07 percent, Dallas had the lowest rate among the five biggest MSAs.
