LPS: Delinquency Rate Slips to Lowest Level Since 2008

Month-end mortgage performance data in April continued to point to a recovery as delinquency and foreclosure rates posted record improvements, ""Lender Processing Services, Inc."":http://www.lpsvcs.com/Pages/default.aspx (LPS) reported Wednesday.

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In April, the delinquency rate (30-plus delinquencies, excluding foreclosures) sunk below 6.5 percent for the first time since July 2008, according to the data provider.

At 6.21 percent, the delinquency rate recorded a month-over-month decrease of 5.81 percent and a year-over-year decline of 9.61 percent.

The foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate, which stood at 3.17 percent in April, fell 5.83 percent from March and plunged 24.55 percent from a year ago.

At the same time, the total number of past due mortgages slipped even further below the 5 million mark to 4.7 million, LPS data revealed.

Of that figure, 3.1 million properties are past due but not in foreclosure, while 1.6 million are in foreclosure inventory.

Florida continued to lead as the state with the highest percentage of non-current loans (delinquencies and foreclosures), followed by New Jersey, Mississippi, Nevada, and New York. The five states with the lowest percentage of non-current loans were Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota, and North Dakota.