Foreclosures continued to decrease in the first quarter, while delinquencies remained flat from the previous quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The share of loans on which foreclosure actions began during the first quarter was 0.35%, down one basis point from the fourth quarter and 10 basis points from a year ago, the MBA reported Thursday in its National Delinquency Survey. The foreclosure starts rate represents the lowest reported since the second quarter of 2000.
The foreclosure rate at the end of the first quarter was 1.74%, a decrease of three basis points from the linked quarter and 48 basis points year-over-year.
The delinquency rate for mortgages on one- to four-unit residential properties stayed put from the fourth quarter at 4.77%. Nonetheless, this represented a 77-basis-point drop from last year.
Serious delinquencies did fall from the previous quarter, dipping 15 basis points to 3.29%. That was 95 basis points below last year's figure.
