The decline in mortgage delinquencies appears to be picking up speed according to TransUnion's quarterly delinquency report.  The national rate of loans 60 or more days past due fell 21 percent from the first quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of 2013, from 5.78 percent to 4.56 percent.  However, over half of that movement occurred subsequent to the fourth quarter of 2012 when it was 5.19 percent, a quarter over quarter change of -12 percent.

TransUnion said that both the quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year changes in rates were the largest improvements it had observed since it first began tracking that data in 1992.   Tim Martin, group vice president of U.S. Housing in TransUnion's financial services business unit, called the change the first major decline in the national delinquency rate since the advent of the housing crisis and said, "We certainly expected improvement this quarter, as the housing sector is in recovery, but the magnitude of the improvement was unexpected."

Every state and the District of Columbia experienced an annual improvement in their mortgage delinquency rates.  Arizona (-37.9%) and California (-36.6%) had the largest drop but Colorado (-28.5%), Michigan (-28.1%) and Minnesota (-25.7%) also recorded big declines.

Ninety-one percent of the metropolitan areas (MSAs) tracked by TransUnion also posted year-over-year improvements compared to 81.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012.  Fifteen of the top 25 performing MSAs were in California with changes as large as -44.3 percent in San Jose and -39.2 in San Francisco. 

"The housing sector as a whole has definitely been improving with prices up, negative equity down and rates staying low," Martin said. "That seems to have helped borrowers this quarter, some of whom have been delinquent for a rather long time, work their way out of the system at a faster pace."

TransUnion says it expects the downward trend in delinquencies to continue.  It projects a rate of 4.5 percent by the end of the second quarter.

"There is no reason to believe the decline in mortgage delinquencies will not continue," said Martin. "All housing data point to further improvements in the delinquency rate, though as in the past few years, this also will hinge on how quickly older vintage loans clear through the system. We do not know if the first quarter was a blip, or if it's the beginning of a more rapid decline."