Mortgage Delinquencies Pass 10%: LPS

Home-loan delinquency rates in the US reached 10% in December, up from the record-high 9.97% in November, according to Lender Processing Services (LPS), which provides data on mortgage performance. Accounting for foreclosures in the pipeline, the total non-current rate stands at 13.3%, according to the data in the LPS database. When extrapolated for the entire mortgage industry, 7.2m mortgage loans are behind on their payments. Earlier in January, Fitch Ratings reported the delinquency rate among prime jumbo residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) almost tripled to 9.2% in December 2009. For the amount of loans current at the end of 2008, 4.64% fell into serious delinquency. That means that of the loans current as of Dec. 31, 2008, 2.3m fell into serious delinquency by December 2009. However, the 2009 vintage loans are performing better than any of the prior five years and improve as more origination months are added into the pool of loans. More restrictive underwriting guidelines drive the improvements, but liquidity “is still not available where it is needed most,” according to the report. States with the most non-current loans are: Florida, Nevada, Mississippi, Arizona, Georgia, California, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Ohio. States with the fewest are: North Dakota, South Dakota, Alaska, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, Vermont, Colorado, Oregon and Washington. Write to Jon Prior.