US mortgage delinquencies continue slide in 2013

The year 2013 is on track to be the best-performing year in a decade when it comes to mortgage delinquency rates, according to analytics provider CoreLogic’s November report.

In the first six months of 2013, the serious delinquency rate of loans dropped to 0.06 percent from 0.1 percent for loans originated in 2012. The serious delinquency rate, which denotes mortgages that are 90 or more days delinquent, was 5.4 percent of mortgages as of July 2013, down from January 2010’s peak of 8.5 percent.

In 2007, the worst performing year of the 2000s, the delinquency rate for loans originated that year was a whopping 1.8 percent, according to the report.

In the New York area, which CoreLogic denotes as New York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ, 8 percent of mortgages were 90 or more days delinquent.

In 2003, when home prices were rapidly appreciating, the six-month delinquency rate was 0.15 percent — more than twice the rate in 2013 and higher than the combined rate of 0.13 percent for 2011 and 2012.

And though tighter underwriting regulations have been a cause for concern, the stricter barriers to entry have resulted in better credit performance. — Julie Strickland