Mortgage Delinquencies Reach 5-Year Low as Housing Heals

The share of U.S. mortgages that are seriously delinquent fell to a five-year low as job gains help borrowers keep up on payments while rising home prices enable others to sell.

The percentage of home loans that were more than 90 days behind or in the foreclosure process fell to 5.65 percent in the third quarter from 7.03 percent a year earlier, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in a report today. That was the lowest rate since the third quarter of 2008, when it was 5.17 percent.