Residential loan delinquency has now improved for eight straight months, while the nation’s foreclosure inventory has fallen for 13 consecutive months.
As of the end of last month, 4,569,000 home loans were at least 30 days past due or in the process of foreclosure.
The number of non-current mortgages dropped from 4,699,000 in April. A year earlier, 5,569,000 were delinquent or in the foreclosure inventory.
Lender Processing Services Inc. released the performance statistics Tuesday based on its loan-level database that reportedly represents around 70 percent of the overall market.
The non-current rate worked out to 9.13 percent in May.
Delinquency was down from 9.38 percent the prior month and has been lower each month since September 2012, when the rate was 11.27 percent.
In the same month last year, the non-current rate was 11.32 percent.
Florida had the worst delinquency rate, followed by New Jersey, Mississippi, Nevada and New York.
The lowest non-current rates were in Montana, Alaska, Wyoming, South Dakota and North Dakota.
The U.S. non-current rate during May reflected a 6.08 percent 30-day rate excluding foreclosures, down from 6.21 percent a month earlier and 7.20 percent a year earlier.
The foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate fell to 3.05 percent from 3.17 percent in April and was 4.12 percent in May 2012.
The foreclosure rate has improved each month since April 2012, when the inventory rate stood at 4.14 percent.