The U.S. mortgage delinquency rate increased to 3.85% in November, up 15% compared with October and up 2.79% compared with November 2024, according to ICE Mortgage Technology’s First Look report.
There were about 2.1 million properties 30 days or more past due but not in foreclosure, an increase of 274,000 compared with October and up 87,000 compared with November 2024.
Seasonal and calendar factors helped drive the rise in November delinquencies: Not only did the month end on a Sunday, delaying payments to the next month, more borrowers tend to make late payments in November, December and January, due to spending on the holidays.
“While the top line delinquency numbers show a sharp increase, we’ve seen comparable spikes in prior years when November ended on a Sunday and scheduled payments didn’t post until early December,” says Andy Walden, head of mortgage and housing market research at ICE, in the report. “Overall performance was in line with what historical patterns would suggest. That said, December data will be important to watch to confirm how quickly borrowers recover from this temporary uptick.”
Still, there was a “strong inflow” of new delinquency borrowers last month: According to the report, 609,000 borrowers who were current on payments in October became delinquent in November, marking the largest single-month inflow since May 2020. Rolls from 30- to 60-day and 60- to 90-day delinquency bands also increased sharply, ICE says.
Serious delinquencies also increased: They were up by about 530,000 in November, an increase of 54,000 compared with the previous month and up about 18,000 compared with a year earlier.
Meanwhile, foreclosure starts decreased to about 26,000 for the month, down about 31.5% compared with October but up 24.8% compared with November 2024.
The U.S. foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate was 0.41%, basically flat compared with October but up 20.5% compared with a year ago.
As of the end of the month there were about 226,000 properties in the foreclosure pre-sale inventory, flat compared the previous month but up about 41,000 compared with a year earlier.
Foreclosure sales (REO) stood at about 6,700 for the month.
After reaching a 3.5-year high in October, prepayment activity retreated in November, falling 18% month over month. The monthly pre-payment rate was 0.83%.
Photo: Alexander Grey
