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Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Black Knight: National Mortgage Delinquency Rate Decreased to Record Low in April

by Calculated Risk on 5/21/2019 08:51:00 AM

From Black Knight: Black Knight’s First Look: Strong April Mortgage Performance Pushes National Delinquency Rate to New Record Low; Prepayment Activity Continues to Rise

• Following a slow start to the year, the national delinquency rate fell by more than 5% month-over-month; at 3.47%, it is now at its lowest level on record dating back to 2000

• Serious delinquencies – loans 90 or more days past due, but not yet in foreclosure – fell to 474,000, marking a 124,000 year-over-year decline and a 12-year low

• While monthly foreclosure starts edged up slightly from March’s 18-year low, the number of loans in active foreclosure continued to shrink, hitting a more than 13-year low in April

• Prepayment activity continues to press upward, driven by a combination of low interest rates and seasonal increases in home sale activity

• The prepayment rate on first-lien mortgages rose 17% from March, bringing the three-month aggregate increase to 67%
According to Black Knight's First Look report for April, the percent of loans delinquent decreased 5.0% in April compared to March, and decreased 5.4% year-over-year.

The percent of loans in the foreclosure process decreased 2.2% in April and were down 18.8% 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 3.47% in April, down from 3.65% in March.

The percent of loans in the foreclosure process decreased slightly in April to 0.50% from 0.51% in March.

The number of delinquent properties, but not in foreclosure, is down 73,000 properties year-over-year, and the number of properties in the foreclosure process is down 55,000 properties year-over-year.

Black Knight: Percent Loans Delinquent and in Foreclosure Process
  Apr
2019
Mar
2019
Apr
2018
Apr
2017
Delinquent3.47%3.65%3.67%4.08%
In Foreclosure0.50%0.51%0.61%0.85%
Number of properties:
Number of properties that are delinquent, but not in foreclosure:1,812,0001,903,0001,885,0002,072,000
Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory:259,000264,000314,000433,000
Total Properties2,072,0002,167,0002,199,0002,505,000