Mixed Economic News Shows Rise in Mortgage Delinquencies, but Big Drop in Foreclosures
Industry Update
May 24, 2023
Source: thecapitolist.com
According to a new report released by Jacksonville-based Black Knight, Inc., a mortgage data and analytics company, the national mortgage delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure) rose by 13 percent in April. While this indicates a notable month-over-month increase, the figure also represents a 2.11 percent rise year-over-year.
However, the end of April falling on a Sunday impacted the processing of payments made on the last calendar day, which helped worsen the rise in early-stage delinquencies (borrowers 30 days late). This led to an increase by 200,000 (+25%), which aligns with the impacts of previous similar calendar-related events.
Despite this rise in early-stage delinquencies, the report showed significant improvement in serious delinquencies, defined as loans 90 or more days past due. In 45 states, accounting for 90% of the nation, plus the District of Columbia, the number of such loans saw a reduction.
Meanwhile there was good news on the foreclosure front. April saw a 23% decrease in foreclosure starts to 25,000 for the month – the lowest since September 2022. This figure stands 45 percent below the pre-pandemic level of April 2019. In addition, the percentage of foreclosure actions initiated on serious delinquencies in April remained more than four percentage points below the monthly average before the pandemic.
For full report, please click the source link above.