Servicers of residential loans are continuing to make progress on reducing the rate of distressed mortgages to pre-crisis levels.
As of March 31, the 90-day delinquency rate on U.S. home loans was 3.9 percent, according to monthly data reported by CoreLogic Inc.
The rate of serious delinquency has not been this low since May 2008.
Ninety-day delinquency peaked at 8.6 percent in early 2010.
The serious delinquency rate was previously reported at 4.0 percent in February 2015 and 4.5 percent in March 2014.
An 8.9 percent ninety-day rate in New Jersey was the highest in the country as of March 2015. Florida’s 7.2 percent rate followed, then 7.1 percent in New York, and
5.5 percent in both Maryland and Maine.
As of March 31, 2015, around 542,000 U.S. home loans were in some stage of foreclosure, falling from 549,000 a month earlier.
The foreclosure inventory has tumbled from 729,000 in March 2014.
It was the 41st consecutive year-over-year decline for the foreclosure inventory rate.
The foreclosure rate
in the most-recent month was 1.4 percent — the lowest rate since March 2008.
In March 2014, the foreclosure inventory rate was 1.9 percent.
“Based on the current trends in completed foreclosure rates, we expect the foreclosure inventory to drop below 1.3 percent by midyear, a level not seen since the end of 2007,” CoreLogic President and Chief Executive Officer Anand Nallathambi stated in the report. “Many states in the Northeast and Midwest, as well as Florida, still have elevated levels of distressed housing, but they are making more rapid progress as of late. In March, foreclosures in these areas accounted for a large proportion of completed foreclosures.”
But mortgage servicers have far more to do before bringing 90-day delinquency to pre-crisis foreclosure rates of 1.5 percent.
New Jersey’s 5.3 percent foreclosure inventory rate was the worst of any state during March. New York followed with a 3.9 percent rate, then Florida’s 3.3 percent, Hawaii’s 2.7 percent and the District of Columbia’s 2.5 percent.
Alaska’s 0.3 percent foreclosure rate was the lowest in the nation.
In March 2015, servicers completed 41,000 U.S. foreclosures, more than the 38,000 real-estate-owned filings the previous month.
But repossessions were fewer than the 48,000 in March 2014.
The pre-recession REO pace was 21,000 a month.
“Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, there have been approximately 5.6 million completed foreclosures across the country, and since homeownership rates peaked in the second quarter of 2004, there have been approximately 7.7 million homes lost to foreclosure,” CoreLogic said.
By state, Florida had 110,000 completed foreclosures in the 12 months ended March 30, 2015, more than any other state. A distant second was Michigan’s 50,000. Texas’ 34,000 was next, followed by 28,000 each in California and Georgia.
South Dakota’s 16 completed foreclosures during the past year were the fewest of any state — though such oil-rich states could see deterioration in response to a dramatic decline in oil prices.
