Mortgage market continues to improve

Four point eight percent of all mortgages in the United States were delinquent during April,  down 0.5 percent year over year, according to data released Tuesday.

Also during April, the national foreclosure inventory rate – which measures the percentage of mortgages in some state of delinquency – was 0.7 percent, up from one percent in April 2016, Irvine-based CoreLogic reported.

The number of U.S. mortgages in serious delinquency was two -percent, down from 2.6 percent in April 2016.

CoreLogic defines delinquency as any mortgage payment that is 30 days past due, serious delinquency as days past due. Both categories include properties in foreclosure.

“Most major indicators of mortgage performance improved in April, showing that the market continues to benefit from improved economic growth and home price increases,”  Dr. Frank Nothaft, CoreLogic’s chief economist, said in a statement. “Regionally, with the exception of several energy industry intensive states, the U.S. continues to see improvements in mortgage performance.

In the Inland Empire, 4.4 percent of all mortgages were 30-days delinquent in April, down 0.4 percent year over year, while 1.5 percent were 90-days delinquent, down 0.5 percent in April 2016.

The two-county region’s inventory foreclosure rate was 0.4 percent, virtually unchanged from the previous year, according to CoreLogic.