The U.S. mortgage delinquency rate fell for an 11th consecutive month in November, reaching the lowest level in more than 11 years, according to CoreLogic’s Loan Performance Insight Report.
As of the end of the month, about 4.1% of all mortgages nationwide were in some stage of delinquency (30 days or more past due but not in foreclosure).
That’s down 1.1% compared with November 2017.
As of November, the foreclosure inventory rate – which measures the share of mortgages in some stage of the foreclosure process – was 0.4%, down 0.2 percentage points from November 2017. That’s the lowest for any month since at least January 2000, CoreLogic says.
Early-stage delinquencies – defined as 30 to 59 days past due – represented 2% of all loans in November, down from 2.2% in November 2017.
Mortgages that were 60 to 89 days past due represented 0.7% of all loans, down from 0.9% in November 2017.
The serious delinquency rate – defined as 90 days or more past due, including loans in foreclosure – was 1.5% in November, down from 2% in November 2017.
It was the lowest serious delinquency rate for November since 2006 and the lowest for any month since 2007.
“Solid income growth, a record amount of home equity and an absence of high-risk loan products put the U.S. homeowner on solid ground,” says Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic, in a statement. “All of this has helped push delinquency and foreclosure rates to the lowest levels in almost two decades, and will provide a cushion if the housing market should turn down.”
The drop in the national mortgage delinquency rate in November came despite the fact that delinquencies were elevated in several metropolitan areas struck by natural disasters, including Wilmington and New Bern, N.C., which were still struggling from Hurricane Florence.
“On a national basis, we continue to see strong loan performance,” says Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “Areas that were impacted by hurricanes or wildfires in 2018 are now seeing relatively large annual gains in the share of mortgages moving into 30-day delinquency. As with previous disasters, this is to be expected and we will see the impacts dissipate over time.”
