Just when you think mortgage performance can’t get any better, it improves yet again.
According to CoreLogic, just 3.8% of mortgages were in some stage of delinquency (30 days or more past due, including those in foreclosure) in July, representing a 0.3 percentage point decrease compared with July 2018, when it was 4.1%.
That’s the lowest mortgage delinquency rate for the month of July in over 20 years, the company reports.
The rate for early-stage delinquencies – defined as 30 to 59 days past due – was 1.8% in July, down from 1.9% in July 2018.
The share of mortgages 60 to 89 days past due was 0.6%, unchanged compared with July 2018.
The serious delinquency rate – defined as 90 days or more past due, including loans in foreclosure – was 1.3% in July, down from 1.6% a year earlier.
That’s the lowest serious delinquency rate for the month of July since 2005, when it was also 1.3%.
The foreclosure inventory rate – which measures the share of mortgages in some stage of the foreclosure process – was 0.4%, down 0.1 percentage points from July 2018.
That’s the lowest foreclosure inventory rate for any month since at least January 1999, CoreLogic says.
The foreclosure rate also continued to fall in July: It was at the lowest level in at least 20 years.
Although the nation’s overall delinquency is near the lowest level since at least 1999, four states posted small annual increases in overall delinquency rates in July: Vermont (up 0.5 percentage points), New Hampshire (up 0.2 percentage points), Iowa (up 0.1 percentage points) and Minnesota (up 0.1 percentage points).
“The fundamentals of the housing market remain very solid with foreclosure rates hitting lows not seen in over 20 years,” says Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “We expect foreclosure rates may very well drift even lower in the months ahead as wage growth and lower mortgage rates provide support for homeownership.”
