Lender Processing Services (LPS) now estimates that as of the end of November there were just fewer than 7 million homes in the U.S. that were 30 days late on the mortgage or more delinquent or actually in foreclosure. The previous figure was just slightly over the 7 million mark. Of these 2,157,000 were referred to a foreclosure attorney or service for processing. The number of homes referred for foreclosure processing increased 4.1% between October and November and increased 8% over 2009 year-over-year figures.
The number of homes in the stage between 30 days late and referred for foreclosure, however, has gone down 2.9% month over month and 15.6% year-over-year.
States with the highest percentage of non-current loans, both pre- and post- foreclosure referral, are Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Nevada, and New Jersey. The states with the lowest percentage of non-current loans are Arkansas, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.