Mortgage delinquency rates fell to 7.58 percent of all home loans at the end of the fourth quarter of 2011, a drop of 0.41 percent from the third quarter and 0.67 percent from the last three months of 2010, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.
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 all U.S. mortgages on which foreclosure actions were started during the fourth quarter was 0.99 percent, down 0.09 percent from the third quarter and 0.28 percent from the last three months of 2010.