CoreLogic: U.S. Mortgage Loan Performance Health Continues to Strengthen

CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif., said mortgages 30 days delinquent or more fell by 0.5 percent in February to its lowest level since 2007.

The company’s monthly Loan Performance Insights Report said nationally, 5 percent of mortgages were delinquent by 30 days or more (including those in foreclosure) in February, an 0.5 percentage point decline in the overall delinquency rate from a year ago (5.5 percent).

The report said the foreclosure inventory rate, which measures the share of mortgages in some stage of the foreclosure process, fell to 0.8 percent from 1.1 percent a year ago. The serious delinquency rate, defined as 90 days or more past due including loans in foreclosure, fell to 2.2 percent in February, down from 2.8 percent a year ago.

Early-stage delinquencies, defined as 30-59 days past due, trended slightly higher in February at 2.14 percent compared to 2.08 percent a year ago, an increase of 0.06 percent year over year. The share of mortgages 60-89 days past due in February was 0.7 percent, unchanged from a year earlier.

The report said the share of mortgages that transitioned from current to 30-days past due rose to 1 percent in February, up from 0.8 percent a year ago. By comparison, in January 2007, just before the start of the financial crisis, the current to 30-day transition rate was 1.2 percent, peaking in November 2008 at 2 percent.

CoreLogic noted while national-level delinquency rates declined, the serious delinquency rate remained elevated in many mid-Atlantic and northeast states, led by New York and New Jersey. Year over year increases in both 30-day-or-more delinquency rates and in serious delinquency rates were also observed in Alaska, Louisiana and Wyoming, relating to the impact of the downturn in the global oil market.

The Mortgage Bankers Assocation will release its First Quarter National Delinquency Survey next week.