NEW YORK - November 9, 2010 - The number of new foreclosure notices fell 5.5% but a slightly larger proportion of mortgages became delinquent in the third quarter of 2010, according to a New York Federal Reserve Bank survey released Monday.

About 2.7% of current mortgage balances fell into delinquency between June and September, compared to 2.6% in the second quarter, marking the first rise in this figure since last year.

This is "a development which will bear monitoring in coming quarters," the New York Fed said.

About 457,000 individuals had a foreclosure notation added to their credit reports between July 1 and September 30, the Fed said. This is a 6.4 percent drop from a year earlier.

Mortgage originations rose 4.3% to $380 billion but remain about 50% below their average levels of 2003-2007.

Consumer indebtedness fell 0.9% to $11.6 trillion in the third quarter, continuing its trend over the second quarter but at a slower pace.

Excluding the effects of defaults and charge-offs, the New York Fed said, non-mortgage debt fell for the first time since at least 2000.

"Consumer debt is declining but only part of the reduction is attributable to defaults and charge-offs," said Donghoon Lee, senior economist in the Research and Statistics Group at the New York Fed.