The seasonally adjusted mortgage delinquency rate for one- to four-unit residential properties improved by seven basis points during the second quarter, clocking in at 4.37% of all outstanding loans.

But zooming out, that measure of loan distress is up 44 basis points from the 3.93% rate posted four quarters ago, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data released Thursday. It’s part of a broader trend of rising delinquencies and foreclosures observed by the MBA’s Marina Walsh.

“Some loans are continuing to move to later stages of delinquency,” noted Walsh, who serves as the association’s vice president of industry analysis. “The seriously delinquent rate — the non-seasonally adjusted percentage of loans that are 90 days or more past due or in the process of foreclosure — increased for the fourth consecutive quarter.”

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Specifically, the non-seasonally adjusted seriously delinquent rate was 2.06% during the second quarter, up three basis points from the prior quarter and 49 bps year over year.

When adjusted for seasonality, loan performance varied across duration buckets:

• 30-day delinquency rate: Down 3 bps to 2.21%
• 60-day delinquency rate: Down 5 bps to 0.73%
• 90-day delinquency rate: Up 1 bps to 1.43%

Broken down by loan type, the seasonally adjusted delinquency rate for conventional loans dipped three basis points over the quarter to 2.72%. Department of Veterans Affairs loans saw their rate of delinquency fall 10 basis points to 4.89%.

While the delinquency rate for loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration decreased nine basis points to 11.79% during the second quarter, the FHA rate is up 122 bps on a 12-month basis.

“FHA serious delinquencies are becoming pronounced, increasing more than 225 basis points from the previous year,” Walsh flagged.

At the end of the second quarter, 0.67% of loans were in the foreclosure process, up three basis points from the first quarter and a gain of 19 bps from a year ago. In a more positive sign, foreclosure actions were started on 0.2% of loans during the quarter, a decline of four basis points.

The West trails the other three regions of the U.S. in mortgage delinquencies, the MBA reported. States seeing the largest quarterly increases in overall delinquency rate were:

• Maine (up 43 bps)
• Michigan (up 39 bps)
• Mississippi (up 39 bps)
• Kansas (up 31 bps)
• Kentucky (up 30 bps)
• South Carolina (up 30 bps)
• West Virginia (up 30 bps)