Mortgage Delinquencies Down 9% Annually, But Still Too High According To Report

The second quarter saw the second consecutive decline for serious (over 60 days) mortgage delinquencies which stood at 5.49 percent at the end of that quarter compared to 5.78 percent at the end of Quarter One.  During the second quarter of 2011 the rate was 5.82 percent.  The rate has declined 9 percent since the first of the year.

TransUnion, in its quarterly analysis of credit-active U.S. consumers, noted that between Quarters One and Two all but five states saw decreases in their delinquency rates and 76 percent of metropolitan areas (MSAs) saw improvement during the quarter.  In the previous quarter 73 percent of MSAs improved.

"While it is a positive sign to see mortgage delinquency rates decrease, meaning more and more homeowners were able to make their mortgage payments, the rate of the decline is still not at a pace that will push levels significantly closer to pre-recession norms," said Tim Martin, group vice president of U.S. Housing in TransUnion's financial services business unit. "The pace of improvement should pick up when we review third quarter results, helped by a few months of relatively good news on home prices, this year's resurgence in refinance activity related to HARP 2.0 and record low mortgage interest rates."

The greatest improvement on an annual basis came in two of the states that needed it most - Arizona and California.  Since the second quarter of 2011 California's rate has dropped nearly 22 percent to 6.13 percent and Arizona's is down 21 percent to 6.14 percent.  TransUnion said both states had double-digit rates two years ago.

Two states remain in double digits - Florida with a serious delinquency rate of 13.48 percent and Nevada at 10.85 percent.  New Jersey and Maryland have the third and fourth highest rates at 8.15 and 6.79 percent respectively.  The lowest rates are in North and South Dakota (1.32 and 1.94 percent respectively), Nebraska (2.24 percent) and Wyoming (2.41 percent.)

The average mortgage debt per borrower in the U.S. in the second quarter was $188,341, a 0.08 percent increase from the first quarter's debt of $188,196 but down 0.46 percent on an annual basis.  The highest mortgage debt is in the District of Columbia ($374,709), California ($329,465) and Hawaii ($314,415).  The lowest debt is in West Virginia ($106,533), Mississippi ($106,533), and Oklahoma ($113,537).