Housing finance agency (HFA) loan delinquencies for loans between 60 days delinquent and foreclosure declined in Q110 for the first time since the housing market began to crash in the second quarter of 2008, according to a Standard & Poor‘s report. Overall delinquency rates for HFA loans remained high, increasing 1.67% between Q409 and Q110 to 6.05%; however, seriously delinquent HFA loans decreased to 6.05% from 6.57%. Despite the decrease, S&P said the future of HFA delinquency rates is uncertain. David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor’s, noted that government backed stimulus, such as the homebuyer tax credit, makes it difficult to track future growth or reduction in the market. “Difficulties restructuring loans and the delays in the foreclosure process will likely lead to bringing foreclosed homes on the market for another 18 months. Additional foreclosures could put more pressure on home prices, possibly affecting loans in HFA portfolios,” the report said. “We expect that HFA delinquencies will likely remain high without a decrease in unemployment and economic improvement.” HFA delinquency rates on a state level changed the agency rankings for the first quarter. The Georgia Housing and Finance Authority saw the largest decrease in delinquencies, down 2.69%, followed by the Tennessee Housing Development Agency at 1.87%. The Tennessee Housing Development Agency and South Dakota Housing Development Agency were the only two agencies to see a year-over-year decrease in delinquencies of 0.2% and 0.46%, respectively. California, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky and Michigan all had delinquency rates over 10% for the first quarter of 2010. Write to Christine Ricciardi.