There was an up tick last month in the rate of serious mortgage delinquency. Recent natural disasters could push the rate ever higher over the next few months.
As of Sept. 30, ninety-day delinquency on consumer credit — including
auto loans, bank cards and mortgages — worked out to 0.88 percent based on the Composite Consumer Credit Default Index.
Consumer credit delinquency worsened by 2 basis points compared to the previous month. A 4-basis-point increase was recorded versus the rate as of the same month last year.
The statistics were jointly reported Tuesday
by Experian and S&P Dow Jones Indices.
A 6-basis-point increase from August left the Composite Index at 1.19 percent in Miami and 1.00 percent in Chicago. The increase was the worst among five of the largest metropolitan statistical areas covered in the report.
In Los Angeles, the rate was 0.65 percent, easing from the prior month by a basis point — the only improvement among the five MSAs.
Zeroing in on just first mortgages, U.S. 90-day delinquency finished last month at 0.66 percent. While that turned out to be a basis point higher than in August, it was down 1 basis point from September 2016.
Second-mortgage serious delinquency increased 3 BPS from a month earlier to 0.53 percent. But the second-mortgage rate was down 3 BPS from a year earlier.
The report indicated that the recent hurricanes and wild fires will result in unexpected, large expenses for residents in affected areas — a development that will likely drive up serious delinquency over the next few months.
