Foreclosures up, delinquencies down in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City

The foreclosure rate rose again in February in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, but the number of delinquent mortgages continues to fall.

Data provided by CoreLogic of Santa Ana, Calif., shows 2.1 percent of the outstanding mortgage loans in the Cedar Rapids area were in foreclosure in February, an increase of 0.49 percentage points compared with February of 2010 when the rate was 1.61 percent. Foreclosure activity in Cedar Rapids is lower than the national foreclosure rate, which was 3.61 percent in February, representing a 1.51 percentage point difference.

CoreLogic said 3.68 percent of all mortgage loans in Cedar Rapids were 90 days or more delinquent in February, down from 3.9 percent in the same month of 2010. The Cedar Rapids mortgage delinquency rate was far below the national rate of 7.79 percent in February.

The rate of foreclosures among outstanding mortgage loans in the Iowa City area was 1.22 percent in February, according to CoreLogic, an increase of 0.34 percent from 0.88 percent in February 2010.

CoreLogic said the 2.07 percent of mortgage loans in the Iowa City area were 90 days or more delinquent in February, down slightly from 2.12 percent in February 2010.

A separate “first look” report from Lender Processing Services of Jacksonville, Fla., shows foreclosure rates did not improve in March.

The report shows that foreclosure activity picked up during the month. As of the end of March, foreclosure inventory stood at 2.2 million – an all-time high – while foreclosure starts increased by 33 percent since the end of February.

Foreclosure sales increased significantly as well, suggesting that the halt in activity due to various moratoriums may be passing.

Mortgage delinquencies continued to decline in March, dropping by more than 11 percent month-over-month – the lowest level since 2008 – as more delinquent loans were either cured or moved into foreclosure. Delinquencies are down nearly 20 percent since this time last year.

Early-stage delinquencies have led the decline, as fewer problem loans enter the pipeline. In fact, 30-day and 60-day delinquent inventories are now approaching pre-crisis levels.

Lender Processing Services said the first quarter of virtually every year shows a drop in new delinquencies, and historically March is consistently the month with the largest declines.