Another sign that foreclosure problems are easing

At the start of 2011, California had the sixth-highest percentage of loans in the foreclosure process, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (via Calculated Risk). By the fourth quarter, the state was 17th highest (Florida was tops by a wide margin). Looks for the percentages to fall further as a result of the mortgage settlement.

Here's another good sign: Mortgage delinquencies represented 7.58 percent of all U.S. residential mortgages in the fourth quarter, down from 8.25 percent from a year earlier and 7.99 percent in the previous three months. From the LAT:

Some hard-hit areas of California were still recording double-digit distress, according to an analysis TransUnion performed at the request of the Los Angeles Times. The Riverside-San Bernardino County region, where serious delinquencies peaked at 17.9% in the fourth quarter of 2009, had 10.58% of loans in that category in the latest quarter. And TransUnion said the serious delinquency rate in the Stockton area was 10.09%, down from 16.69% two years earlier. The Los Angeles-Orange County metro area had 6.86% of mortgages in serious trouble, down from 10.61% two years earlier.