Serious Mortgage Delinquency at 11-Year Low

Residential loans delinquent at least a month, including mortgages that are in the foreclosure inventory, accounted for 4.1 percent of all loans as of July 31.

U.S. mortgage delinquency improved by 20 basis points versus one month previous. Compared to the same month last year, the non-current rate has descended by 60 BPS.

Providing the data Tuesday was CoreLogic Inc.

CoreLogic Chief Economist Frank Nothaft predicted in the report, “With the national unemployment rate remaining below 4 percent since July, further declines in U.S. delinquency rates are likely in coming months.”

But CoreLogic President and Chief Executive Officer Frank Martell warned that higher delinquency is expected in the mid-Atlantic region this year as a result of Hurricane Florence and in Hawaii because of Hurricane Lane and the volcanic eruption of Kilauea.

While it wasn’t mentioned in the report, Hurricane
Michael is threatening Florida and could also cause escalated delinquency later this year.

With a non-current rate of 8.0 percent, Mississippi had the highest delinquency rate of any state. Louisiana was next with a 7.1 percent rate, then 5.9 percent in New York, 5.8 percent in Alabama and 5.6 percent in West Virginia.

In Colorado the non-current rate was 1.9 percent — lower than any other state.

Reflected in the latest non-current U.S. rate was a ninety-day rate, including foreclosures, of 1.6 percent — the lowest for any month since June 2007 when it was also 1.6 percent.

Also included in July’s rate was a foreclosure inventory rate of 0.5 percent, the same as it has been each month since April and 20 BPS lower than July 2017.

New York’s 1.6 percent foreclosure rate was the highest in the country. Maine’s 1.3 percent followed, then New Jersey’s 1.1 percent, Hawaii’s 1.0 percent and 0.9 percent in Florida and the District of Columbia.