Foreclosure inventory continued to diminish in September, but the delinquency rate saw a sudden month-over-month surge, according to the ""first look"" mortgage report from ""Lender Processing Servicers"":http://www.lpsvcs.com/Pages/default.aspx (LPS), which has a loan-level database covering about 70 percent of the market.
[IMAGE] [COLUMN_BREAK]The delinquency rate, which stood at 7.40 percent in September, hiked up 7.72 percent from August, but is still down by 4.19 percent from a year ago. The delinquency rate includes loans 30 days or more past due, but not in foreclosure. The rate actually increased in April, May, and June before falling in July and August.
The foreclosure inventory rate dropped further, falling to 3.87 percent, the first time in nearly two years the rate was below 4 percent. The foreclosure inventory rate was down from the previous month by 4.05 percent and down from a year ago by 7.37 percent.
As of September, there are 5.64 million properties that are 30 days or more past due or in foreclosure.
Loans that were 30 days or past due but not in foreclosure totaled 3.7 million; in that group, 1.53 million were 90 days or more past due, or on the verge of going into foreclosure. Foreclosure inventory numbered 1.94 million.
The states with the highest percentage of past due loans were Florida, Mississippi, New Jersey, Nevada, and Louisiana.
The states with the smallest percentage of loans still unpaid were Montana, Alaska, South Dakota, Wyoming, and North Dakota.