The end of 2013 showed broad improvements in delinquency and foreclosure rates, dropping to their lowest levels in six years, reports the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) in its Q4 2013 National Delinquency Survey.

The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties decreased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 6.39% of all loans outstanding at the end of the fourth quarter of 2013 – the lowest level since the first quarter of 2008.

The delinquency rate decreased two basis points from the previous quarter and 70 basis points from one year before. (The delinquency rate includes loans that are at least one payment past due but does not include loans in the process of foreclosure.)

The percentage of loans in the foreclosure process at the end of the fourth quarter was 2.86%, down 22 basis points from the third quarter and 88 basis points lower than one year before. This was the lowest foreclosure inventory rate seen since 2008, the MBA notes.

The non-seasonally adjusted percentage of loans on which foreclosure actions were started during the fourth quarter decreased to 0.54% from 0.61% – a decrease of seven basis points and the lowest level since 2006.

The serious delinquency rate, the percentage of loans that are 90 days or more past due or in the process of foreclosure, was 5.41% – a decrease of 24 basis points from last quarter, and a decrease of 137 basis points from the fourth quarter of the year prior.

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