The U.S. mortgage delinquency rate fell to 4.1% of all loans in October, according to CoreLogic’s Loan Performance Insights Report.
That’s a single percentage point decline compared with September, but down significantly from a rate of 5.1% in October 2017.
It was the lowest reading for the month of October in at least 18 years, the firm says.
The rate for early-stage delinquencies – defined as 30 to 59 days past due – was 1.9% in October, down from 2.3% in October 2017.
The serious delinquency rate – which includes loans that are 90 days past due but not in foreclosure – was the lowest since November 2006.
The share of mortgages that were 60 to 89 days past due was 0.7%, down from 0.9% in October 2017.
The serious delinquency rate – defined as 90 days or more past due, including loans in foreclosure – was 1.5% in October, down from 1.9% from a year earlier.
It was the lowest serious delinquency rate for an October since 2006, when it was 1.5%.
It ties August and September 2018 as the lowest for any month since March 2007 when it was also 1.5%.
Some hurricane-affected metros in the Carolinas and the Florida Panhandle continue to see elevated delinquency rates, CoreLogic notes.
“While the strong economy has helped families stay current and push overall delinquency rates lower, areas that were hit hard by natural disasters have seen a rise in loan defaults,” says Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic, in a statement. “The 30-day delinquency rate in the Panama City, Florida metro area tripled between September and October 2018 as a result of Hurricane Michael. Two months after Hurricane Florence made landfall in the Carolinas, 60-day delinquency rates doubled in the Jacksonville, Wilmington, New Bern and Myrtle Beach metro areas.
“And buffeted by Kilauea’s eruption in the Hawaiian Islands, serious delinquency rates jumped on the Big Island by nine percent between June and October 2018, while falling by four percent in the rest of Hawaii,” he adds.
