During each of the last three quarters, residential defaults have declined. But the positive trend could easily reverse.
Third-quarter mortgage delinquency of at least 60 days was 6.44 percent, TransUnion reported. Late payments improved from 6.67 percent in the second quarter.
It was the third consecutive quarterly improvement and “the largest quarterly decline since the fourth quarter of 2006.”
During the third-quarter 2009, delinquency was 6.25 percent.
Last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that delinquency of at least 30 days, including foreclosures, fell to 13.78 percent from 13.97 percent.
Nevada’s 15.12 percent rate was the highest in TransUnion’s report, followed by Florida’s 14.63 percent. On the other side of the spectrum was North Dakota’s 1.52 percent rate of delinquency — the lowest of any state.
But the report warned that with the level of foreclosures banks are holding on their books, the upcoming round of resets on adjustable-rate mortgages and a stubbornly high unemployment rate — the improving trend might not last.
TransUnion said that the average U.S. borrower owed $190,176 compared to $191,284 three months earlier.
The credit repository noted that mortgage originations have fallen nearly a quarter since the third period of last year.
