1 in 20 isle homeowners late in paying mortgage

LOS ANGELES » Hawaii homeowners are getting further behind on their mortgage payments.

The percentage of the state’s homeowners who were 60 days or more delinquent on their payments rose to 4.98 percent in the first quarter from 4.80 percent in the final quarter of 2011. That 3.75 percent gain was the second-largest increase in the nation, credit reporting agency TransUnion said Tuesday.

Hawaii had the 20th-highest mortgage delinquency rate in the nation at 4.98 percent. On a year-over-year basis, mortgage delinquencies in Hawaii dropped about 1 percent from 5.03 percent.

With Hawaii homes typically costing more than on most of the mainland, the mortgage debt per borrower in the state was the third highest in the nation at $312,324. This moved up 0.39 percent from $311,099 in the last quarter when Hawaii had the 13th-highest mortgage debt per borrower. Year over year, mortgage debt per borrower in Hawaii dropped 0.46 percent from $313,770.

Nationwide the percentage of homeowners behind on their mortgage payments dropped in the first three months of this year to the lowest level since 2009. Some 5.78 percent of the nation’s mortgage holders were behind on their payments by 60 days or more in the January-to-March quarter. That’s down from 6.19 percent in the same period last year and below the 6.01 percent delinquency rate for the last three months of 2011.

The decline in the U.S. mortgage delinquency rate followed two quarters of increases. But barring any severe shocks to the U.S. economy, the rate is expected to continue easing, said Tim Martin, group vice president of U.S. housing for TransUnion.

"We had a couple quarters where it ticked up, so it’s nice to see it come back down," Martin said. "That should be what happens the rest of the year, so we’re hopefully on the path of improvement now."

TransUnion’s analysis is derived from a sample of 10 percent of U.S. mortgage holders.

All but eight states saw their mortgage delinquency rate decline in the first quarter versus the last three months of last year: Montana, Hawaii, Maine, North Dakota, New York, Maryland, Washington and Dela­ware.

Florida led the nation with the highest mortgage delinquency rate of any state at 13.87 percent, down from 14.27 in the fourth quarter of last year.