Default rates on both first and second mortgages declined in July, according to the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices.
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Second mortgage defaults decreased from 1.4 percent in June to 1.25 percent in July.
July's second mortgage default rate is also down from one year ago, when the rate was 2.77 percent.
The first mortgage default rate for the month of July was 1.93 percent, down from 2.02 percent the previous month and 3.25 percent one year ago.
""By and large, July's data support the downward trend we have observed over the past two years,"" said David M. Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee for S&P Indices.
[COLUMN_BREAK]""Despite high unemployment rates, consumers continue to improve their financial positions, resulting in lower default rates than we were seeing during the recession,"" Blitzer said.
The S&P/Experian indices also measure a composite of four types of default - first mortgage, second mortgage, bank card, and auto loan - in five metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs).
For the month of July, the composite indices declined in four of the five MSAs measured: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Miami.
Dallas was the only MSA to post an increase - rising 0.01 percent.
All five MSAs showed year-over-year declines in default.
""All indices show default rates well below where they were in 2008 and 2009. However, occasional increases in some of the regional composites suggest that default rates may not fall a lot farther,"" Blizter said of the regional data.
While recording the highest default rate of the five cities we report, Miami is still far off the near-19% it had reported two years ago,"" Blitzer added.
""However, the sluggish economies in both Miami and Chicago appear to be having a more severe impact on their residents than some of the other markets,"" he concluded.