Residential delinquency has turned in several quarters of declines, and the latest quarter was no exception. The outlook is for further improvement.
Borrowers who were two or more months past due on their mortgages accounted for 5.82 percent of all home loans as of second quarter, TransUnion reported Wednesday.
The findings were determined from the Chicago-based company’s database of 27 million consumer records.
Delinquency improved from 6.19 percent in the first quarter. It was the sixth consecutive quarter that delinquency was better and the best improvement since the recession ended.
TransUnion executive Tim Martin said strengthening performance was the result of more conservative lending to higher-quality borrowers.
“Not only are these consumers less likely to default if house prices continue to edge downward throughout the year, but their willingness to repay their debt obligations in the face of high unemployment rates is greater,” Martin stated in the news release. “It is because of these dynamics that lenders today take a much closer look at the borrower’s income history and overall debt situation than before the recession began in 2007.”
In the second quarter of last year, the rate was 6.67 percent.
“TransUnion forecasts that mortgage borrower delinquency rates will continue to drift downward for the remainder of 2011, as economic conditions begin to slowly recover and tighter lending standards offset the impact of falling home prices,” the announcement said.
Florida’s 13.91 percent delinquency rate was the worst of any state. But it was better than 14.37 percent in the first quarter.
Nevada was next at 13.04 percent, then California’s 7.83 percent and Arizona’s 7.78 percent.
North Dakota’s 1.45 percent rate was the lowest of all states.
The mortgage debt per borrower was $189,205 in the latest three-month period, down from $190,115 the prior quarter and $191,284 a year earlier.
Washington, D.C.’s, $369,334 mortgage size was bigger than any state. Close behind was California’s $335,070.
