NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Mortgage delinquency rates among U.S. homeowners have fallen to their lowest levels in a few years, according to a report Thursday from the nation's mortgage bankers.
The quarterly National Delinquency Survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported that the rate of mortgage borrowers at least one payment past due or whose homes have been repossessed by their banks declined 0.22 point to 13.56% at the end of December, their lowest level since late 2008.

 Loans one payment past due were at 8.22%, down considerably from the 9.13% mark at the end of the third quarter and the lowest rate since the end of 2007, the beginning of the recession, the bankers said.

That, according to Michael Fratantoni, vice president of research and economics for the MBA, was very welcome news.

"I think we've turned the corner as concerned with loans 30 days late," he said. "It indicates that the economy has improved."