Black Knight: Mortgage Delinquencies Improve for the First Time Since January; Serious Delinquencies Surge to 9-Year High

Black Knight, Jacksonville, Fla., said after rising from 3.2% in January to 7.8% in May, the national delinquency rate improved for the first time in five months, falling to 7.6% in June as the overall number of past-due mortgages declined by 98,000.

The company’s First Look Mortgage Monitor, however, reported serious delinquencies – those 90 or more days past due – rose by more than 1.2 million as the initial wave of borrowers financially impacted by COVID-19 missed their third mortgage payment. At 1.87 million, the number of seriously delinquent mortgages is now at its highest level since early 2011

With federal foreclosure moratoria still in place, active foreclosure inventory continues to dwindle; June’s 192,000 active foreclosures were the fewest on record, dating back to 2000.

The report said repayment activity hit its highest level in 16 years in June, fueled by record-low 30-year interest rates and surging refinance incentive.

Other report data:

–Loan Delinquency Rate: 7.59 percent in June, down by 2.25 percent from in May but up by 103.55 percent from a year ago.

–Foreclosure Inventory Rate: 0.36 percent in June, down by 4.21 percent from

May and down by 27.08 percent from a year ago.

–Foreclosure Starts: 5,900 in June, up by 15.7 percent from May but down by 85.3 percent from a year ago.

–Properties 30 or More Days Past Due, But Not in Foreclosure: 4.034 million in June, down by 89,000 from May but up by 2.084 million from a year ago.

–Properties 90 or More Days Past Due, But Not in Foreclosure: 1.874 million in June, up by 1.243 million from May and up by 1.419 million from a year ago.

–Properties in Pre-Foreclosure Inventory: 192,000 in June, down by 8,000 from May and down by 67,000 from a year ago.

–Properties 30 or More Days Past Due or in Foreclosure: 4.226 million, down by 98,000 from May but up by 2.017 million from a year ago.

–States with the Highest Rate of Non-Current Loans: Mississippi, Louisiana, New York, New Jersey, Hawaii.

–States with the Lowest Rate of Non-Current Loans: Oregon, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho.

States with the Highest Rate of 90-Plus Days Delinquency: Mississippi, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, Nevada.