Delinquency, Foreclosure Rates Decrease to Post-Crisis Lows in May

The national delinquency rate and foreclosure inventory rate each fell to post-crisis lows in May, ""Lender Processing Services"":http://www.lpsvcs.com/Pages/default.aspx (LPS) reported Tuesday.

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At 6.08 percent, the national delinquency rate in May stood at the lowest level since May 2008, when the rate was 5.96 percent.

Month-over-month, the delinquency rate decreased 2.1 percent from April and plunged 12 percent from May 2012.

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At the same time, the foreclosure inventory rate slipped to 3.05 percent, which represents the lowest point since March 2009 when the rate was 2.90 percent. The rate has also fallen for 13 straight months now.

Over the last year, foreclosure inventory has plunged 27 percent and also fell by 3.9 percent over the last month.

LPS also reported about 3.04 million mortgages were past due by at least one month, but not yet in foreclosure. Of that total, about 1.34 million are 90 days or more past due but not in foreclosure.

Properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory numbered 1.52 million as of May, bringing the total number of delinquencies and foreclosures to 4.56 million.

The five states that topped the list for having the highest percentage of past due mortgages were Florida, New Jersey, Mississippi, Nevada, and New York.

The five states with the lowest percentage of non-current loans were Montana, Alaska, Wyoming, South Dakota, and North Dakota.