Mortgage performance continued to improve in May, as the total delinquency rate dropped to 3.64% of all loans, a decrease of 0.84% compared with April and a decrease of 4.08% compared with May 2017, according to Black Knight’s First Look report.
As of the end of the month, about 1,867,000 properties were 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure, a drop of 18,000 compared with the previous month and a drop about 60,000 compared with a year earlier.
It was the fifth consecutive month that the total delinquency rate declined.
However, there was a slight increase in the number of properties in serious delinquency compared with a year earlier – possibly due in part to the impact of the hurricanes and California wildfires that struck last fall.
About 568,000 properties were 90 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure, a decrease of 30,000 compared with April but an increase of about 6,000 compared with May 2017.
Foreclosure starts for the month dropped to a new low. There were about 44,900 foreclosure starts in May, a decrease of 8.92% compared with April and a decrease of 19.53% compared with May 2017.
That’s the second lowest number of foreclosure starts in more than 17 years, Black Knight says.
The total U.S. foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate was 0.59%, down 3.30% compared with the previous month and down 28.65% compared with a year earlier.
As of the end of the month, there were about 303,000 residential properties in the foreclosure inventory pipeline, down about 11,000 compared with April and down about 118,000 compared with May 2017.
That’s the lowest national foreclosure rate in more than 15 years.
At the current rate of decline, the U.S. foreclosure inventory rate is on pace to hit the pre-recession average (2000-2005) by the third quarter of this year.
The monthly prepayment rate was 0.93%, down 10.65% month-over-month and down 12.71% year-over-year.
