U.S. residential mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures edged downward in the fourth quarter of 2004 from a year earlier, thanks to an improving economy, a mortgage industry group said on Thursday.
At the end of the fourth quarter, the mortgage delinquency rate was 4.23 percent, down from 4.49 percent in the same quarter of 2003 and down from 4.41 percent at the end of the third quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.
The figures are seasonally adjusted and apply to one to four-unit residential properties.
The new-foreclosure rate on mortgages was 0.44 percent at the end of the fourth quarter, down from 0.45 percent the previous year, but up from 0.39 percent in the third quarter.
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