by Calculated Risk on 5/20/2021 10:13:00 AM

Note: A year ago, in April 2020, the delinquency rate increased sharply (see table below).   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: Mortgage Delinquencies Decline Another 7% in April; At Current Rate of Improvement, Delinquencies to Return to Pre-Pandemic Levels By Year’s End

• The number of past-due mortgages improved again in April, as the national delinquency rate fell to 4.66% from 5.02% in March

• New delinquencies rose 23% from March's record lows, but are down 33% from April 2019, while more than 400,000 (14% of) homeowners past-due on their mortgages became current on payments

• Serious delinquencies (loans 90 or more days past due but not yet in foreclosure) saw strong improvement as well, falling by 151,000 for the month

• Nearly 1.8 million first-lien mortgages remain seriously delinquent, 1.3 million more than there were heading into the pandemic

• Both foreclosure starts and active foreclosure inventory hit new record lows once again in April as both moratoriums and borrower forbearance plan participation continue to limit activity

• Mortgage prepayments fell nearly 23% in April to their lowest level since May 2020, reflecting the impact on refinance activity of interest rate spikes earlier this year

• Black Knight’s April Originations Market Monitor report also showed that rate locks have fallen further over the past month, suggesting prepay volumes will likely be muted in the months to come
emphasis added

According to Black Knight's First Look report, the percent of loans delinquent decreased 7.1% in April compared to March, and decreased 27% year-over-year.

The percent of loans in the foreclosure process decreased 6.3% in April and were down 29% 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 4.66% in April, down from 5.02% in March.

The percent of loans in the foreclosure process decreased in April to 0.29%, from 0.30% in March.

The number of delinquent properties, but not in foreclosure, is down 900,000 properties year-over-year, and the number of properties in the foreclosure process is down 58,000 properties year-over-year.

Black Knight: Percent Loans Delinquent and in Foreclosure Process
	Apr  2021	Mar 2021	Apr 2020	Apr 2019
Delinquent	4.66%	5.02%	6.45%	3.47%
In Foreclosure	0.29%	0.30%	0.40%	0.50%
Number of properties:
Number of properties that are delinquent, but not in foreclosure:	2,500,000	2,676,000	3,400,000	1,812,000
Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory:	153,000	162,000	211,000	259,000
Total Properties	2,653,000	2,838,000	3,611,000	2,072,000