A big improvement in new defaults was enough to offset a monthly rise in the foreclosure inventory.
In a preview of its monthly statistics on residential loan performance, Lender Processing Services Inc. reported a 30-day delinquency rate of 13.10 percent during November, lower than the previous month’s 13.21 percent.
The improvement reversed two consecutive monthly increases.
LPS, which claims that half of all U.S. mortgages are serviced using its mortgage servicing package, said delinquency was 14.47 percent in November of last year.
During the latest month, delinquency was highest in Florida, Nevada, Mississippi, Georgia and New Jersey. States with the lowest rates were Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota and North Dakota.
Last month’s U.S. default rate excluding foreclosures was 9.02 percent, improving from October’s 9.29 percent. The latest number worked out to 4.8 million mortgages. A year earlier it was around 10.69 percent.
The U.S. foreclosure rate moved from 3.92 percent up to November’s 4.08 percent and was approximately 3.78 percent in November 2009. The number of foreclosed loans ended last month at 2.2 million.
