by Calculated Risk on 8/24/2022 08:36:00 AM

From Black Knight: lack Knight’s First Look: Foreclosure Starts Pull Back in July, Holding Well Below Pre-Pandemic Levels, While Early-Stage Delinquencies Edge Slightly Higher

• The national delinquency rate edged up to 2.89% in July – driven by a 4% increase in early-stage delinquencies – but remains just 14 basis points higher than the record low set in May of this year

• Serious delinquencies – loans 90 or more days past due, but not yet in active foreclosure – pulled back in July after worsening for the first time in 22 months in June

• The number of seriously delinquent loans curing to current has dropped steadily over recent months, from 104K in March to 58K in July, indicating that the easiest workouts have likely been completed

• Foreclosure starts retreated 25% from June for a total of 17.7K starts – some 55% below pre-pandemic levels for the month of July – equating to just 3% of 90+ day past-due loans

• Though still up from record lows that came from widespread moratoriums and forbearance protections last year, the number of loans in active foreclosure declined slightly by 6K in July

• Prepayment activity dropped by another 18% in July and is now down by 67% from the same time last year as rising rates put downward pressure on both purchase and refinance lending
emphasis added

According to Black Knight's First Look report, the percent of loans delinquent increased 1.9% in July compared to June and decreased 30% year-over-year.

Black Knight reported the U.S. mortgage delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure) was 2.89% in July, up from 2.84% in June.

The percent of loans in the foreclosure process decreased in July to 0.35%, from 0.36% in June. 

The number of delinquent properties, but not in foreclosure, is down 663,000 properties year-over-year, and the number of properties in the foreclosure process is up 44,000 properties year-over-year.

Black Knight: Percent Loans Delinquent and in Foreclosure Process
	July  2022	June 2022	July 2021	July 2020
Delinquent	2.89%	2.84%	4.14%	6.91%
In Foreclosure	0.35%	0.36%	0.26%	0.36%
Number of properties:
Number of properties that are delinquent, but not in foreclosure:	1,543,000	1,511,000	2,206,000	3,692,000
Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory:	184,000	190,000	140,000	190,000
Total Properties	1,728,000	1,700,000	2,346,000	3,881,000