LOS ANGELES — Homeowners are doing a better job of making timely mortgage payments, a trend that brought down the national late-payment rate on home loans in the second quarter to the lowest level in five years.
The percentage of mortgage holders at least two months behind on their payments fell in the April-June quarter to 4.09 percent from 5.49 percent a year earlier, credit reporting agency TransUnion said Tuesday.
The latest rate also declined from 4.56 percent in the first three months of the year.
The last time the mortgage delinquency rate was lower was the third quarter of 2008, a time when home prices were sliding and the U.S. economy was in recession.
Five years later, U.S. home sales and prices are rising, fueled by moderate but stable job gains, still-low mortgage interest rates, few homes for sale and a slowdown in foreclosures.
Low mortgage rates have made it possible for more homeowners to refinance and lower their monthly payments. And rising home prices have helped homeowners who were "underwater" on their mortgage — when they owed more than the home is worth — return to positive equity. That, in turn, has opened the door for those borrowers to qualify for refinancing.
"So as prices come up, more and more of those people come off the cusp and are actually able to take advantage of those low rates," said Tim Martin, TransUnion's group vice president of U.S. housing.
The rate of late payments on home loans has been steadily improving over the past four quarters.
