Foreclosure rates, delinquencies fall in Feb.

THE FORECLOSURE rate in the Providence-Fall River-New Bedford area fell .60 percentage points in February compared with the same period last year.  For a larger version of this map, click <a href=HERE / COURTESY CORELOGIC" title="THE FORECLOSURE rate in the Providence-Fall River-New Bedford area fell .60 percentage points in February compared with the same period last year. For a larger version of this map, click HERE / COURTESY CORELOGIC"/>
THE FORECLOSURE rate in the Providence-Fall River-New Bedford area fell .60 percentage points in February compared with the same period last year. For a larger version of this map, click HERE / COURTESY CORELOGIC

PROVIDENCE – The foreclosure rate in the Providence-Fall River-New Bedford area fell .60 percentage points in February compared with the same period last year, Corelogic said Thursday.

Figures released by the California-based real estate data firm showed the Providence area foreclosure rate at 2.60 percent in February, down from 3.20 percent during the same period 2011.

At the same time, the metro area’s 90-day mortgage delinquency rate for February fell .30 percentage points year-over-year to 7.44 percent from 7.74 percent in 2011.

Within the Providence area, which includes Bristol County, Mass., the foreclosure rate fell .78 percentage points in Rhode Island to 2.67 percent.

- Advertisement -

The mortgage delinquency rate in Rhode Island, which excludes Newport County, dropped .45 percentage points to 7.51 percent year-over-year.

The February declines put the Providence area well below the national foreclosure rate of 3.41 percent, which declined .18 percentage points from last February.

But the area’s 7.44 percent mortgage delinquency rate is now higher than the national rate of 7.24 percent, which dropped .52 percentage points in February from the same period 2011.

In a separate report released Thursday, RealtyTrac said Providence-Fall River-New Bedford foreclosure filings fell 14 percent in the first quarter of 2012 from the same period last year.

Residential mortgage lenders made 1,673 total Providence area filings, including default notices, auctions and repossessions. That total declined 24 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011.

Nationally, lenders initiated 16 percent fewer foreclosure filings in the first quarter of 2012 than the first quarter of 2011.

“First quarter metro foreclosure trends were a mixed bag,” said RealtyTrac CEO Brandon Moore.

“While the majority of metro areas continued to show foreclosure activity down from a year ago, more than half reported increasing foreclosure activity from the previous quarter — an early sign that long-dormant foreclosures are coming out of hibernation in many local markets,” he added.

No posts to display