Hawaii’s 60-day mortgage delinquency rate in the fourth quarter ranked 24th highest in the nation at 4.8 percent of mortgage holders, according to data released Wednesday by credit reporting agency TransUnion.

The 4 percent decline from 5 percent in the July-September period was the second-largest drop in the nation for the quarter.

Over the past year, Hawaii’s mortgage delinquency rate declined nearly 14 percent from 5.58 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010.

TransUnion said nationwide that 6.01 percent of mortgage holders were behind on their payments by 60 days or more in the October-to-December period compared with 5.88 percent for the third quarter of 2011. Last quarter’s rate is down from the fourth quarter of 2010, when 6.41 percent were behind by two or more months.