Mortgage delinquency improved again and has moved lower each quarter since 2011. The outlook is for further improvement.
Residential loan delinquency of at least 60 days finished the first quarter at 3.61 percent, TransUnion reported Wednesday.
The past-due rate improved for the ninth consecutive quarter from 3.85 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.
In the first quarter of last year, the 60-day delinquency rate was 4.76 percent.
“TransUnion is forecasting that the downward consumer delinquency trend will continue into the second quarter of 2014, with mortgage delinquencies falling to approximately 3.40 percent by the end of June,” the report said.
Among the five-biggest states, Florida’s delinquency rate was highest: 7.64 percent. But the Sunshine State made progress from the 8.18 percent rate in place as of the fourth-quarter 2013.
California’s 3.08 percent rate was the lowest among the largest states.
As of the first quarter, 53.47 million mortgages were outstanding. The total was up from 52.84 million three months earlier and 53.06 million 12 months earlier.
Still, the recent growth leaves the count far lower than the 63.38 million loans in place in the first-quarter 2008.
“It’s encouraging to see mortgage delinquencies drop once again, especially during a period when mortgage originations slowed considerably,” TransUnion Head of Financial Services Steve Chaouki said in the report. “This trend in improved performance is driven in part by lenders working their way through the foreclosure backlog, along with continued conservatism in underwriting new mortgages.”
