Black Knight: Past-Due Mortgages Approach Record Lows, Serious Delinquencies Continue to Improve

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Black Knight, Jacksonville, Fla., reported the national delinquency rate fell 11 basis points in May to 3.1%, the lowest level it’s hit other than a record of 2.92% in March.

There had been a bit of a calendar-driven April spike, Black Knight noted in the previous month’s release; the last day of April was a Sunday, and delayed processing of Sunday payments drove up the delinquency rate. In May, the number of borrowers just one payment behind improved by 94,000, erasing about half of April’s increase.

Serious delinquencies, defined as loans 90 or more days past due, fell by 18,000, or 3.7%. The number is now down about 30% year-over-year.

Foreclosure starts ticked up 2.2% to 25,400 for the month, but still are around April’s six-month low and 41% below pre-pandemic May 2019. Foreclosure actions were started on 5.1% of serious delinquencies, up marginally from April, but a full percentage point below March 2020.

The number of loans in active foreclosure improved by 4,000 and is down 15% from March 2020, with foreclosure sales (completions) rising 5.5% from April.

Moreover, prepayment activity rose to a 0.54% single-month mortality rate–the highest level seen since September 2022–but still down 40% from May of last year, Black Knight said.