Mortgage delinquencies at 10-year low

The number of mortgages that were in the foreclosure process was down to 0.8% in March, from 1.0% a year earlier while the 90-day delinquency rate fell to 2.1% from 2.7% over the same period

Mortgage delinquencies at 10-year low
The number of mortgages that were in the foreclosure process was down to 0.8% in March, from 1.0% a year earlier while the 90-day delinquency rate fell to 2.1% from 2.7% over the same period.

The improving picture for US mortgages is highlighted by CoreLogic in its Loan Performance Insights Report which shows that nationally 4.4% of mortgages were at least 30 days past due, down 0.8 percentage points from March 2016.

“Early-stage mortgage performance continues to improve at a steady pace, especially for 30-59-day delinquencies which fell to 1.7%, the lowest rate for any month since January 2000,” said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Late-stage serious delinquency rates continue to decline, falling to their lowest levels since November 2007.”

The rate of transition from current to 30 days past-due was 0.6% in March 2017, down from 0.7% a year earlier. That is the lowest rate since January 2000 and significantly below the 2.0% peak in November 2008, during the financial crisis.

“Dropping delinquency and foreclosure rates reflect the beneficial impact of stringent post-crisis underwriting standards as well as better fundamentals such as higher employment, household formation and home price gains,” said Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “Looking ahead, we expect these positive trends to continue as the industry shifts its focus toward solving supply shortages and looming affordability crises in an increasing number of markets.”