Consecutive monthly improvements in home-loan defaults have recently been reported by three data sources. The latest findings have delinquency lower for two months in a row.
Lender Processing Services Inc. reported that 30-day delinquency was 11.99 percent last month. The rate was based on 6.3 million delinquent mortgages.
The findings were derived from LPS’ database of 40 million mortgages. The Jacksonville, Fla.-based service provider noted that based on dollar volume, around half of all U.S. mortgages are serviced using its mortgage servicing package.
Defaults improved from 12.05 percent previously reported for February — when delinquency also was also down.
The improvement bled over into the year-over-year performance; LPS reported that late payments were 13.24 percent in March 2010.
LPS isn’t the only data source reporting recent delinquency improvement.
The S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices indicated that first-mortgage delinquency was lower for the fourth consecutive month in March at 2.33 percent, while Freddie Mac reported that 90-day delinquency on the residential portion of its $2.2 trillion total mortgage portfolio was down for the third consecutive month in February at 3.78 percent.
Last month’s LPS rate, excluding foreclosures, reflected a 7.78 percent 30-day rate. The foreclosure rate was 4.21 percent.
The states with the worst delinquency rates were the same as the previous month:Â Florida, Nevada, Mississippi, New Jersey and Georgia.
The lowest default rates could be found in Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota and North Dakota — also unchanged from February.
