Delinquency and Foreclosure Rates Down From a Year Ago: LPS

""Lender Processing Services"":http://www.lpsvcs.com (LPS) has provided the media with a sneak peek at the results of its mortgage performance data through 2011.
[IMAGE] As of the end of December, the company counted 6,167,000 borrowers behind on their mortgage payments, including those already in the process of foreclosure.

That tally is the culmination of a steady decline over the last year, with both the national delinquency rate and foreclosure rate down when compared to their December 2010 readings.

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Delinquencies were unchanged between the months of November and December, but declined 7.7 percent from December 2010. LPS puts the mortgage delinquency rate, including loans 30 or more days past due but not in foreclosure, at 8.15 percent.

Foreclosures declined by 1.3 percent from November to December and are 1.0 percent below the level reported at the end of 2010. By LPS' calculations, the national foreclosure inventory rate is 4.11 percent.

Of the 6,167,000 mortgages going unpaid in the United States, LPS says 2,066,000 are in foreclosure. The remaining 4,101,000 haven’t made it that far down the pipeline, even though 1,792,000 are 90 or more days delinquent.

States with the highest percentage of non-current loans, combining delinquencies and foreclosures, included Florida, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, and Illinois as of the end of December.

The lowest percentage of non-current loans can be found in Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, and North Dakota.