From Black Knight: Black Knight’s First Look: National Mortgage Delinquency Rate Plunges Nearly a Full Percentage Point in March as Calendar and Economy Drive Improvement
• The national delinquency rate fell to 5.02% from 6.00% in February – a 16.4% decline – driven by a combination of economic and calendar-related tailwinds
• Over the past 20 years, delinquencies have fallen by nearly 10% on average in March due to tax return and other seasonal funds being used by homeowners to pay down past-due mortgage debt
• The decline was stronger than usual due to both January and February ending on Sunday – which tends to dampen performance and lead to following-month gains – as well as broader economic improvements
• Despite March’s strong performance, some 1.9 million mortgage-holders – including those in active forbearance – are at least 90 days past due on payments
• There are 1.5 million more such serious delinquencies than at the onset of the pandemic, nearly five times pre-pandemic levels
• Active foreclosures fell to yet another record low in March due to widespread moratoriums and forbearance utilization limiting both foreclosure inflow and outflow
• Prepayments rose by 17% in March to the highest level in more than 17 years driven by a seasonal rise in home sales alongside a rise in refinance activity locked in before rates began to rise in mid-February
emphasis added
According to Black Knight’s First Look report, the percent of loans delinquent decreased 16.4% in March compared to February, and increased 48% year-over-year.
The percent of loans in the foreclosure process decreased 3.6% in March and were down 27% 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 5.02% in March, down from 6.00% in February.
The number of delinquent properties, but not in foreclosure, is up 880,000 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 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2021 |
Feb 2021 |
Mar 2020 |
Mar 2019 |
|
| Delinquent | 5.02% | 6.00% | 3.39% | 3.65% |
| In Foreclosure | 0.30% | 0.32% | 0.42% | 0.51% |
| Number of properties: | ||||
| Number of properties that are delinquent, but not in foreclosure: |
2,672,000 | 3,186,000 | 1,792,000 | 1,903,000 |
| Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory: |
162,000 | 168,000 | 220,000 | 264,000 |
| Total Properties | 2,834,000 | 3,354,000 | 2,013,000 | 2,167,000 |