The MBA’s latest National Delinquency Survey, which covered 2012’s fourth quarter, showed great progress for the nation’s mortgage markets.

The mortgage markets showed considerable signs of healing in the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest National Delinquency Survey, a wide-ranging measure of the U.S. residential mortgage markets.

Among the survey’s many highlights were the national delinquency rate, which at 7.09 percent is at its lowest level since 2008, and the 30-day delinquency rate, which dropped to its lowest mark since 2007.

Mike Fratantoni, the MBA’s vice president of Single-Family Research and Policy Development, said in a conference call following the survey’s release that he expects the nation’s delinquency rates to improve further, what with the strength of recent mortgage originations; he added that foreclosure activity in judicial states – which lead the nation by a wide margin – peaked in 2012’s second quarter, and has now gone down for two consecutive quarters.

For more perspective on the National Delinquency Survey, see our infographic below.