By Alex Veiga
AP Real Estate Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The percentage of U.S. homeowners behind on their mortgage payments dropped in the first three months of this year to the lowest level since 2009, according to a new report.
Some 5.78 percent of the nation’s mortgage holders were behind on their payments by 60 days or more in the January-to-March quarter, according to the credit reporting agency TransUnion.
That’s down from 6.19 percent in the same period last year, and below the 6.01 percent delinquency rate for the last three months of 2011.
The decline in the U.S. mortgage delinquency rate follows two quarters of increases.
But barring any severe shocks to the U.S. economy, the rate is expected to continue easing, said Tim Martin, group vice president of U.S. Housing for TransUnion.
“We had a couple quarters where it ticked up, so it’s nice to see it come back down,” Martin said. “That should be what happens the rest of the year, so we’re hopefully on the path of improvement now.”
TransUnion’s analysis is derived from a sample of 10 percent of U.S. mortgage holders.
Before the housing bust, mortgage delinquencies were running at less than 2 percent nationally.
It took about three years after the housing market crashed for the delinquency rate on mortgages to climb to a peak of nearly 7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009.
The rate has been trending down since then.
Seasonal patterns — such as homeowners skipping payments to spend money elsewhere in the last three months of the year — were likely a factor in the uptick last fall.
Still, the national delinquency rate remains well above its historical range, an indication many homeowners are still struggling five years after the housing downturn.
“It’s coming down a lot more slowly than it went back up,” Martin said.
The delinquency rate won’t likely get back down to its normal 2 percent level until housing prices recover.
Home prices dropped in February in most major U.S. cities for a sixth-straight month, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home-price index.
Still, there have been some bright spots in housing and economic trends this year. And those keeping track of developments say these trends could point to further improvement in the mortgage delinquency rate.
The U.S. unemployment rate has fallen a full percentage point since August to 8.1 percent last month — the lowest level since January 2009.
As long as the economy, housing market and jobs outlook continue to improve, it’s likely fewer homeowners will fall behind on their mortgage payments, Martin said.
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