All consumer loan types saw a decline in default rates for a second consecutive month in February, according to new data released earlier this month.

The information was compiled by S&P Indices and Experian for the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices, a comprehensive measure of changes in consumer credit defaults.

The national composite declined to 2.09 percent in February from the 2.16 percent January rate. The first-mortgage default rate fell from January's 2.08 percent to February's 2.02 percent. Second-mortgage, bank card, and auto loans default rates also declined, from 1.30 percent, 4.57 percent, and 1.27 percent in January, to 1.20 percent, 4.41 percent, and 1.22 percent in February, respectively.

"It seems that 2012 has begun on a positive note for the consumer," says David M. Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee for S&P Indices. "We appear to be resuming the downward trend in consumer default rates that began in the spring of 2009."

In a news release last month, S&P Indices reported that the second half of 2011 saw a rise in consumer defaults, led by four consecutive monthly increases in first-mortgage default rates. January and February's combined reports shows broad-based declines in all types of default rates, "which is a good way to start the year," Blitzer says.

The first-mortgage default rate fell by six basis points in February, bringing the rate closer to the lows seen in the summer of 2011. Second-mortgage and bank card default rates fell by even more during that month. Both second-mortgage and bank card default rates are their lowest in the three-year history of those data. While bank cards tend to have the highest default rate, at 4.41 percent, it now is less than half of the 9.15 percent recorded less than two years ago.

Blitzer says four of the five cities the S&P Indices covers saw their default rates drop. For the second consecutive month, Los Angeles saw the largest decline, moving to 1.87 percent in February from 2.36 percent in January and 2.54 percent in December.

After three consecutive months of increasing default rates, Miami's fell to 4.54 percent in February from 4.80 percent in January. It had the highest default rate of the cities covered, which is no surprise given the relative state of its housing market. Dallas was the only city where default rates rose, to 1.61 percent from 1.53 percent, but it still retains the lowest rate among the five cities.

S&P Indices, a brand of the McGraw-Hill Cos., maintains a wide variety of investable and benchmark indices. More than $1.45 trillion is directly indexed to the indices, which include the S&P 500, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, and the S&P Global BMI, among others.