Industry Data Shows 1,256,000 Loans in Foreclosure

The industry’s foreclosure inventory contracted again in November upon continued improvements on the housing and economic fronts. Although on a monthly basis, the inventory of homes in foreclosure fell slightly by 1.72 percent, year-over-year, it was down 28.81 percent, Lender Processing Services (LPS) reports.

The data and analytics firm released a preview of its November 2013 month-end mortgage performance statistics, showing there are now 1,256,000 mortgage loans in foreclosure, or 2.5 percent of all outstanding mortgages nationwide.

Delinquencies rose month-over-month by 2.63 percent but overall, the national delinquency rate has trended down this year. LPS says November’s delinquency rate of

6.45 percent (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure) is 9.41 percent below November 2012 and represents a decline of just over 10 percent year-to-date.

The number of properties with mortgages 30 or more days past due but not in foreclosure tallied 3,241,000 as of November month-end. Of those, 1,283,000 were seriously delinquent, meaning 90 or more days past due but not yet in foreclosure.

Combining the number of delinquent loans and those that are part of the foreclosure inventory shows there are a total of 4,497,000 non-current home mortgages in the United States, according to LPS’ report.

In October, Mississippi overtook Florida to claim the top ranking spot in the nation in terms of non-current loans. Florida’s improvement continued into November, with New Jersey now unseating the Sunshine State for the No. 2 spot in the non-current loan rankings. New York and Louisiana round out the top five.

States with the lowest percentage of non-current loans in November, included Colorado, Montana, Alaska, South Dakota, and North Dakota.

LPS says it will provide a more in-depth review of this data in its monthly Mortgage Monitor report, which is scheduled for release by January 13. Monthly results are derived from LPS’ loan-level database representing approximately 70 percent of the overall market.