The national mortgage delinquency rate resumed its downward trend in July after experiencing a seasonal uptick in June, ""Lender Processing Services, Inc."":http://www.lpsvcs.com/Pages/default.aspx (LPS) reported Monday.
[IMAGE]The delinquency rate, which includes loans 30 days or more past due, slipped to 6.41 percent in July after increasing to ""6.7 percent"":http://dsnews.comarticles/delinquency-rate-sees-abrupt-increase-in-june-2013-07-25 in June. The decrease represents a monthly and yearly decline of 3.96 percent and 8.76 percent, respectively.
[COLUMN_BREAK]Foreclosure inventory also fell in July, dropping to 2.82 percent, down from 3.46 percent in June. Compared to a year ago, the decrease is much steeper, at 30.76 percent.
According to LPS, the foreclosure inventory rate is at the lowest level since February 2009.
When totaling past due loans, including delinquencies and foreclosures, LPS found about 4.6 million mortgages are behind on payments.
Of that total, 3.19 million are 30 days or more past due but not in foreclosure, while 1.41 properties are in foreclosure inventory. About 1.35 million of the delinquent loans are 90 days or more past due, but not yet in foreclosure.
Florida, as usual, took the top spot for the highest percentage of past due loans. Mississippi followed, with New Jersey, New York, and Maine rounding out the top five.
Wyoming held the lowest percentage of non-current loans, followed by Montana, Alaska, South Dakota, and North Dakota.