The U.S. mortgage delinquency rate (30 days or more past due but not in foreclosure) continued to improve in September, decreasing to 6.66% of all loans, according to Black Knight.
That’s down 3.10% compared with August but up 89% compared with September 2019, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Roughly 3.5 million homeowners were 30 days or more past due, a decrease of about 137,000 compared with the previous month but up 1.69 million compared with a year ago.
About 2.3 million homeowners were seriously delinquent (90 days or more past due but not in foreclosure), down about 43,000 compared with August but up about 1.9 million compared with September 2019.
It was the first such improvement in the serious delinquency rate since the pandemic began in late February.
The foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate dipped to 0.34%, a decrease of 2.86% compared with the previous month and down 29% compared with a year earlier.
As of the end of the month, there were about 181,000 homes in the foreclosure pre-sale inventory – down about 6,000 compared with August and down about 71,000 compared with September 2019.
There were about 4,500 foreclosure starts in September – down 25% compared with the previous month and down 89% compared with a year earlier.
Black Knight notes that both foreclosure starts and foreclosure sales continue to remain muted given the widespread foreclosure moratoriums still in place.
The monthly prepayment rate increased 34% month-over-month but dropped 95% year-over-year due to the refinance frenzy of 2020.
