by Calculated Risk on 3/21/2019 03:43:00 PM

CR Note: It is possible that some of the increase in the delinquency rate in February was due to late tax refunds.

From Black Knight: Black Knight’s First Look: Bucking Historical Seasonal Trend, February Sees Delinquencies Rise; Prepayments Up 11 Percent, Driven by Softening Interest Rates

• Delinquencies rose by 3.7 percent in February, the first February increase in 12 years

• Despite the monthly rise, delinquencies remain more than 9.5 percent below last year’s level

• At 40,400 for the month, foreclosure starts were down 19.5 percent from January and edged close to September 2018’s 15-year low

• The national foreclosure rate improved marginally and is now down more than 21 percent year-over-year

• Prepayment speeds rose by 11 percent from January’s 18-year low, suggesting an increase in refinance activity driven by the recent decline in 30-year interest rates

According to Black Knight's First Look report for February, the percent of loans delinquent increased 3.7% in February compared to January, and decreased 9.5% year-over-year.

The percent of loans in the foreclosure process decreased 0.4% in February and were down 21.3% 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 3.89% in February, up from 3.75% in January.

The percent of loans in the foreclosure process decreased slightly in February to 0.51% from 0.51% in January.

The number of delinquent properties, but not in foreclosure, is down 179,000 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
	Feb 2019	Jan 2019	Feb 2018	Feb 2017
Delinquent	3.89%	3.75%	4.30%	4.21%
In Foreclosure	0.51%	0.51%	0.65%	0.93%
Number of properties:
Number of properties that are delinquent, but not in foreclosure:	2,019,000	1,945,000	2,198,000	2,135,000
Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory:	264,000	265,000	331,000	470,000
Total Properties	2,284,000	2,210,000	2,528,000	2,605,000