LPS Reports an About-Face in Delinquency and Foreclosure Movement

""Lender Processing Services"":http://www.lpsvcs.com (LPS) says market data it's pulled through the end of April reveals an increase in the national mortgage delinquency rate and a drop in the industry's foreclosure inventory.

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Both stats did a complete u-turn from the trajectory they were on the prior month. At ""March month-end"":http://dsnews.comarticles/lps-records-12-drop-in-mortgage-delinquencies-2011-04-19, LPS reported a sharp drop in delinquencies and a smaller, but notable increase in the foreclosure inventory.

Based on performance analysis conducted on its loan-level database of nearly 40 million mortgage loans, LPS says the ratio of mortgages 30 or more days past due but not yet in

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foreclosure rose to 7.97 percent in April, an increase of 2.4 percent from March. That follows a 12 percent decline between February and March.

For April, the nation's foreclosure inventory â€" which LPS defines as past dues that have been referred to an attorney but have not yet reached the final stage of foreclosure sale â€" dropped to 4.14 percent, down 1.6 percent from March. Pre-sale foreclosures between February and March had risen 1.4 percent.

Altogether, LPS says there were 6,388,000 mortgages 30 or more days delinquent or in foreclosure as of the end of April. That's up from 6,333,000 at the end of March.

At April month-end 2,184,000 properties were in the midst of the foreclosure process, and 4,204,000 were at least one payment overdue but not yet referred to a foreclosure attorney. Of the latter, 1,961,000 were 90 or more days delinquent.

According to LPS' analysis, the states with highest percentage of non-current loans - which combines foreclosures and delinquencies - are Florida, Nevada, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Georgia.

States with the lowest percentage of non-current loans include Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota, and North Dakota.