Lender Processing Services released preliminary data this morning from its May Mortgage Monitor Report.  The highlight of the report is that the national delinquency rate jumped 1.1 percent to 7.20 percent in May although it is still 9.6 percent below the rate one year ago.  Delinquency is defined by LPS as loans that are 30 or more days past due but not in foreclosure.

The presale inventory - i.e. homes in the process of foreclosure, was down 0.5 percent from the previous month to 4.12 percent but this an increase of 0.2 percent from one year ago.

In actual numbers, there are 3.54 million mortgages that are past due; 1.58 million of those are 90 days or more past due but not yet in foreclosure.  The presale inventory now totals 2.03 million and the total number of distressed loans - delinquent and in inventory - is 5.57 million.

The states with the highest percentage of non current loans remain relatively unchanged from previous months.  In order of severity they are Florida, Mississippi, New Jersey, Nevada, and Illinois.

The Mortgage Monitor report will be available on or before July 9.