The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has released its latest mortgage delinquency rates and the rate has dropped for the 2010 third quarter.

MBA reports that the delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four unit residential properties dropped 72 basis points from the second quarter to 9.13 percent of all loans outstanding in the third. This is a 51-basis-point decrease from a year ago. MBA defines the delinquency rate to include loans at least one payment past due, but does not include those loans that have entered the foreclosure process

Foreclosure starts, on the other hand, increased to 1.34%, up from 1.11% in the second quarter. These starts increased all loan types and those that were prime fixed loans set a new record high. MBA attributes the foreclosure starts jump to lenders dealing with a huge backlog of mortgage defaults. Initiations of foreclosure proceedings were stepped up in this July to September time period. This could be a signal that servicers were just trying to push unpaid mortgages through the system faster and this led to the recent uncovering of the robo-signing scandal.

Total loans in the foreclosure process equaled 4.39% of the nation’s outstanding mortgages at the end of the third quarter. That’s down from 4.47% in the 2009 third quarter. MBA also reported that 13.78% of U.S. mortgages are not current. That’s nearly 14 out of every 100 mortgages!

RealtyTrac reported that 332,172 properties received foreclosure filings in the month of October. That marks the 20th consecutive month where at least 300,000 homeowners received a foreclosure notice.

Short sale agents, this should be a flashing neon sign for you that opportunities abound in the short sale market. Just because a home has started the foreclosure process, doesn’t mean it can’t be sold as a short sale. And as we reported on Short Sale Daily News yesterday, with the increase of the average number of days until a foreclosure is completed growing to the astronomical 492-day-mark, there’s a definite window of opportunity to carpe diem (seize the day) with short sales.

Lenders seized 93,236 homes in October, according to RealtyTrac. Short sale agents, that’s 93,236 MISSED opportunities for you. Do whatever you need to do to educate yourself to be in a position to assist these families before the foreclosure process is completed. Invest in coaching. Earn a new designation. Utilize the many web pages and archives of Short Sale Daily News—there are great videos, past webinars and even a search box to help you locate past articles on specific short sale topics. And let’s see if, for future months, we can reduce these stats by increasing your business!