ICE First Look at Mortgage Performance: Serious Delinquencies at Lowest Since Mid-2006 as Foreclosures Drop, Prepayments Rise
Industry Update
April 22, 2024
Source: ICE (Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.)
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, reports the following “first look” at March 2024 month-end mortgage performance statistics derived from its loan-level database representing the majority of the national mortgage market.
The national delinquency rate ticked down 14 basis points (bps) to 3.20% in March, holding 27 bps higher than the record low in March 2023.
Historically, delinquencies fall an average -10.4% in March; conversely, months that end on Sundays – e.g., March 2024 – experience an average, if mostly temporary, upward pull of +6.9%.
Only the third such convergence in the last two decades, this March’s 4.2% drop in the delinquency rate is in line with the previous cases in which March ended on a Sunday.
Serious delinquencies (loans 90+ days past due but not in active foreclosure) dropped 24K (-5.2%) from February to hit their lowest level since June 2006.
March saw less inflow of past-due payments as well as fewer rolls to later stages of delinquency, with total cures up 9% as early-, mid- and late-stage delinquencies all saw improvement.
Even accounting for the 5.3% month-over-month rise in foreclosure starts, the month’s 26K starts was still below the average for the past 12 months.
The number of loans in active foreclosure fell to 205K in March – the fewest since January 2022 and still 28% below (-77K) pre-pandemic levels – with 5.8K foreclosures completed in the month.
Prepayment activity rose to its highest level in seven months driven by the lower rate environment of January and early February combined the start of the spring homebuying season.
For full report, please click the source link above.
