From Black Knight: Black Knight: With Moratoria Lifted, Foreclosure Starts Edge Higher, But Still 80% Below Pre-Pandemic Levels; Delinquency Rate Falls to 4% For First Time Since Early 2020
• The national delinquency rate on first lien mortgages fell to 4.00% in August, the lowest it’s been since pandemic-related impacts caused mortgage delinquencies to spike in early 2020
• Serious delinquencies – including those in active forbearance – fell by 108,000 from July and, though down by more than 1 million from last August, are still roughly 930,000 above pre-pandemic levels
• August’s 7,100 foreclosure starts represented the largest such volume in eight months after foreclosure moratoria on federally backed loans were lifted at the end of July
• Despite the increase – which was driven primarily by restarting the process on loans that had been in foreclosure prior to the moratoria – start volumes remain 80% below August 2019 levels
• Though the number of loans in active foreclosure saw the first monthly rise of 2021 (+2,000), volumes remain near record lows and are still down 44% (-97,000) from pre-pandemic levels
• Prepayment activity rose by nearly 9% in the month with interest rates – which have held below 3% in recent months – continuing to spur both refinance and purchase activity
emphasis added
According to Black Knight’s First Look report, the percent of loans delinquent decreased 3.5% in August compared to July, and decreased 42% year-over-year.
The percent of loans in the foreclosure process increased 1.7% in August and were down 24% 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 4.00% in August, down from 4.14% in July.
The number of delinquent properties, but not in foreclosure, is down 1,557,000 properties year-over-year, and the number of properties in the foreclosure process is down 45,000 properties year-over-year.
Black Knight: Percent Loans Delinquent and in Foreclosure Process | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Aug 2021 |
July 2021 |
Aug 2020 |
Aug 2019 |
|
Delinquent | 4.00% | 4.14% | 6.88% | 3.45% |
In Foreclosure | 0.27% | 0.26% | 0.35% | 0.48% |
Number of properties: | ||||
Number of properties that are delinquent, but not in foreclosure: |
2,122,000 | 2,206,000 | 3,679,000 | 1,818,000 |
Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory: |
142,000 | 140,000 | 187,000 | 253,000 |
Total Properties | 2,264,000 | 2,346,000 | 3,867,000 | 2,066,000 |