The U.S. mortgage delinquency rate (30 days or more past due, including those in foreclosure) fell to 4.8% of all loans in February, a decrease of 0.2% compared with February 2017, according to CoreLogic’s monthly Loan Performance Insights Report.
The rate for early-stage delinquencies – defined as 30-59 days past due – was 2.1% in February, up slightly from 2.0% in January and unchanged compared with February 2017.
The share of mortgages that were 60-89 days past due was 0.7%, down from 0.8% in January and unchanged compared with February 2017.
The serious delinquency rate – defined as 90 days or more past due, including loans in foreclosure – was 2.1% in February, unchanged compared with January and down from 2.2% in February 2017.
It was the lowest serious delinquency rate since February 2007, when it was 1.6%.
The foreclosure inventory rate was 0.6%, down 0.2 percentage points from 0.8% in February 2017.
It was the lowest foreclosure inventory rate for the month of February in 11 years.
Since August 2017, the foreclosure inventory rate has been steady at 0.6%.
The decrease in the overall mortgage delinquency rate comes despite the impact from the fall hurricanes that struck Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico in August-September-October 2017.
“Last year’s hurricanes continue to have an effect on loan performance in affected markets, showing up in statewide data,” says Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic.
“Serious delinquency rates in February were 50 percent higher than in August 2017 in Texas, and nearly double in Florida, even though the wind and flood damage was primarily in coastal markets,” Nothaft explains. “In Puerto Rico, the damage was widespread. Serious delinquency rates were up five-fold over the August-to-February period, with a significant increase in all metropolitan areas there.”
“Overall delinquency rates fell in the U.S. over the past year, driven by a long run of stringent underwriting, higher employment and wages,” adds Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “At the same time, our home price index showed a 6.4 percent increase in home-price appreciation for the 12 months, which ended in February 2018. These factors bode well for the fortunes of both homeowners and mortgage servicers.”
