by Calculated Risk on 1/22/2021 08:00:00 AM

Note: Loans in forbearance are counted as delinquent in this survey, but those loans are not reported as delinquent to the credit bureaus.

From Black Knight: Black Knight’s First Look: 2020 Ends With 1.7 Million More Seriously Delinquent Homeowners Than at Start of Year; Foreclosures at Record Low

• The year ended with 1.54 million more delinquent and 1.7 million more seriously delinquent mortgages than at the start of 2020, a looming reminder of the challenges facing the market in 2021

• Despite the year-over-year increase, the national delinquency rate saw modest improvement in December, falling by 3.9% from November to 6.08%, the lowest level since April 2020

• Serious delinquencies (loans 90 or more days past due) also improved, falling to 2.15 million from 2.19 million the month prior

• Even after months of improvement, 90-day default activity rose by more than 250% (+2.6 million) overall in 2020

• Foreclosure starts fell by 67% from the year prior and the year’s 40,000 foreclosure sales (completions) represented an annual decline of more than 70%

• Starts and sales have hit record lows as moratoriums and forbearance plans protect distressed homeowners from facing foreclosure in the wake of the pandemic

• Prepayment activity rose by 12% percent in December, ending the year 112% higher than the same month in 2019 and highlighting a still-strong refinance market entering 2021
emphasis added

According to Black Knight's First Look report, the percent of loans delinquent decreased 3.9% in December compared to November, and increased 79% year-over-year.

The percent of loans in the foreclosure process increased 1.3% in December and were down 28% over the last year.

Black Knight reported the U.S. mortgage delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure) was 6.08% in December, down from 6.33% in November.

The percent of loans in the foreclosure process increased slightly in December to 0.33%, from 0.33% in November.

The number of delinquent properties, but not in foreclosure, is up 1,448,000 properties year-over-year, and the number of properties in the foreclosure process is down 67,000 properties year-over-year.

Black Knight: Percent Loans Delinquent and in Foreclosure Process
	Dec  2020	Nov 2020	Dec 2019	Dec 2018
Delinquent	6.08%	6.33%	3.40%	3.88%
In Foreclosure	0.33%	0.33%	0.46%	0.52%
Number of properties:
Number of properties that are delinquent, but not in foreclosure:	3,251,000	3,381,000	1,803,000	2,013,000
Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory:	178,000	176,000	245,000	271,000
Total Properties	3,429,000	3,557,000	2,047,000	2,283,000