Although mortgage delinquency has deteriorated for three consecutive months, the number of loans in foreclosure fell to an almost 10-year low.
Residential loans that were delinquent at least 30 days or in the foreclosure pre-sale inventory numbered 2.761 million as of Nov. 30, 2016.
That was 55,000 more non-current loans than as of the end of the prior month. But it was 428,000 fewer units than as of the same point last year.
Those details were reported in the First Look report from Black Knight Financial Services.
Last month’s non-current count consisted of 2.263 million loans 30 days past due but not yet in foreclosure and 498,000 loans in the foreclosure pre-sale inventory. It was the first time foreclosures have fallen below 500,000 in nearly a decade.
An analysis of Black Knight’s data indicates that there were around 50.8 million home loans outstanding as of Nov. 30, 2016.
That put the non-current rate at 5.44 percent, worse than 5.34 percent at the end of October 2016.
But the rate has retreated compared to 6.30 percent as of the close of November 2015.
At 11.56 percent, Mississippi had the highest non-current rate as of last month. Louisiana’s 10.09 percent followed, then New Jersey’s 8.20 percent, Alabama’s 8.06 percent and West Virginia’s 7.94 percent.
In North Dakota, the non-current rate was 2.35 percent — the lowest in the nation.
Reflected in the U.S. non-current rate as of November 2016 was a 4.46 percent 30-day rate excluding foreclosures. The 30-day rate worsened from 4.35 percent a month earlier and has moved higher each month since August, when it was 4.24 percent. But it improved from 4.92 percent a year earlier.
Black Knight called the month-over-month deterioration in the 30-day rate “a relatively mild seasonal increase by historical standards.”
A slowing in the year-over-year improvements is taking place “as market normalizes.”
The other component of the non-current rate was an 0.98 percent foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate. The foreclosure rate slipped 1 basis point from Oct. 31, 2016,
and declined 40 BPS from Nov. 30, 2015.
An analysis of Black Knight’s data
suggests that the 90-day rate, including foreclosures, closed out last month at around 2.32 percent.
The report said that there were 60,400 foreclosure starts during November 2016, more than 56,500 the prior month but still near 10-year lows. For all 11 months that have elapsed so far this year, there were 704,800 foreclosure starts.
