The national mortgage delinquency rate dropped in December after a significant uptick the previous month, according to data from Black Knight Financial Services.
The Jacksonville, Fla.-based analytic firm said in its "first look" report that the delinquency rate declined to 5.6% through December, which is down 7% from the month before and 13% year over year.
More than 2.8 million properties are 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure, Black Knight said. This figure is down 220,000 from November and has fallen by 375,000 from a year ago.
Furthermore, the number of properties 90 or more days delinquent stands at 1.1 million, a decrease of 31,000 on a monthly basis.
Foreclosure inventory was down 35% from December 2013, to 820,000. Even though foreclosure starts were down 15% year over year with 89,400 loans beginning the process, initiations increased 21% compared to a month earlier, Black Knight said.
Mississippi has the highest combined properties in foreclosure and delinquency as a percent of active loans, at 14.2%. The top five is rounded out by New Jersey (11.9%), Louisiana (11%), New York (10.4) and Rhode Island (10.2%).
Conversely, Black Knight revealed that Montana, Colorado, Alaska, South Dakota and North Dakota have the lowest percentages of properties that are either in foreclosure or delinquent.
