by Calculated Risk on 3/06/2017 08:01:00 AM

Black Knight Financial Services (BKFS) released their Mortgage Monitor report for January today. According to BKFS, 4.25% of mortgages were delinquent in January, down from 5.09% in January 2016. BKFS also reported that 0.94% of mortgages were in the foreclosure process, down from 1.30% a year ago.

This gives a total of 5.19% delinquent or in foreclosure.

Press Release: Black Knight’s Mortgage Monitor: Strong Q4 Pushes 2016 Originations to Highest Level in Nine Years; Reperforming Loan Population Sits at Nearly Two Million

Today, the Data & Analytics division of Black Knight Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE: BKFS) released its latest Mortgage Monitor Report, based on data as of the end of January 2017. This month, Black Knight examined final Q4 2016 origination data to get a sense of purchase and refinance lending volumes and trends for the year as a whole. In addition, the report also looked at the nation’s population of reperforming loans (RPLs), mortgages that had been at least 120 days or more delinquent or in active foreclosure at some point in the past but have now been current for at least four months. As Black Knight Data & Analytics Executive Vice President Ben Graboske explained, 2016 was the best year for overall mortgage originations since 2007.

“A strong fourth quarter finish to the year pushed total 2016 origination volumes to the highest level seen in nine years,” said Graboske. “We’ve now seen nine consecutive quarters of double-digit purchase origination growth, and growth overall in the purchase market in 21 of the past 22 quarters. The $2.1 trillion in first lien mortgages originated throughout the year represented a 17 percent increase over 2015, stemming from a 22 percent jump in refinance lending and a 13 percent increase in purchase loans. This was the second straight year of double-digit growth in purchase lending, which hit its highest yearly total since 2006 at $1.1 trillion. As good of a year as it was for purchase lending, it was still 28 percent off the peak volume seen in 2005.”
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph from Black Knight shows first lien mortgage originations per year.

From Black Knight:

• A strong Q4 pushed total 2016 origination volumes to the highest level seen in nine years

• $2.1 trillion in first lien mortgages originated in 2016 represented a 17 percent increase over 2015

• Refinance lending was up 22 percent, while purchase originations rose 13 percent

This graph from Black Knight shows purchases origination per quarter - and the year-over-year change.

From Black Knight:

• We’ve now seen nine consecutive quarters of double digit purchase origination growth, and overall growth in the purchase market in 21 of the past 22 quarters

• $260B in purchase volume in Q4 2016 was the highest fourth quarter origination volume since 2006

• The annual purchase origination growth rate accelerated in Q4 from 11 percent to 14 percent

There is much more in the mortgage monitor.