TransUnion: Delinquency Rate Sees Biggest Improvement Since 1992

""TransUnion"":http://www.transunion.com/ reported the national mortgage delinquency rate recorded its biggest improvement since the credit bureau began keeping track in 1992.

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In the first quarter of this year, the mortgage delinquency rate, which includes 60-plus delinquencies, stood at 4.56 percent. The figure represents a 21 percent decline from a year ago and a 12 percent decrease from the fourth quarter of last year.

""We are pleased to report that the national mortgage delinquency rate experienced its first major decline since the advent of the housing crisis,"" said Tim Martin, group VP of U.S. Housing in TransUnion's financial services business unit. ""We certainly expected improvement this quarter, as the housing sector is in recovery, but the magnitude of the improvement was unexpected.""

Looking ahead, TransUnion projected the mortgage delinquency rate will fall further and finish near 4.5 percent in the second quarter of this year.

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""There is no reason to believe the decline in mortgage delinquencies will not continue,"" Martin added. ""All housing data point to further improvements in the delinquency rate, though as in the past few years, this also will hinge on how quickly older vintage loans clear through the system. We do not know if the first quarter was a blip, or if it's the beginning of a more rapid decline.""

In addition to the improvements on a national level, individual states and metro areas across the country also showed remarkable progress.

Over the last year, all 50 states plus Washington D.C. saw their mortgage delinquency rates fall.

The state that registered the steepest decline was Arizona, where the rate plunged 37.9 percent to 4.26 percent. California saw the second biggest improvement after the rate fell 36.6 percent to 4.22 percent. Colorado ranked third for its 28.5 percent decrease to 2.69 percent.

The state that led with the highest share of past due borrowers was Florida, where the delinquency rate was 11 percent. However, the state has seen its rate fall by 20.7 percent over the last year.

Other states with notably highest mortgage delinquency rates included Nevada (9.12 percent), New Jersey (6.93 percent), and Delaware (6.27 percent). North Dakota and South Dakota had the smallest rate of 1.37 percent and 1.63 percent, respectively.

Out of the metro areas TransUnion observed, 91 percent posted annual decreases in their mortgage delinquency rate, up from 81.4 percent in the previous quarter. Of the 25 metro areas where the delinquency rate fell the furthest, 15 were in California, including San Jose (-44.3 percent), San Francisco (-39.2 percent), San Diego (-38.4 percent) and Sacramento (-36. percent).