Cotality: National Delinquency Rate Holds at 3% in September

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Cotality, Irvine, Calif., released its latest Loan Performance Indicators, finding that in September, the share of mortgages in some stage of delinquency was 3%.

That’s flat from 2024, and up from 2.9% in Q2 2025.

“The national delinquency rate has remained relatively stable over the past year and quarter. It is still up from the record lows seen in mid-2024. Even so, delinquencies remain low by historical standards, at just a quarter of the peak levels experienced during the Great Financial Crisis,” said Molly Boesel, Senior Principal Economist at Cotality. “However, we’re seeing signs of stress beneath the surface and some indication that borrowers who fall behind are struggling to catch up, progressing into later stages of delinquency. This is particularly evident at the metro level, where the share of areas with rising overall delinquencies declined from 70% in September 2024 to 48% in September 2025. Yet, the share with increasing foreclosure rates jumped from 8% to 39% over the same period. These trends suggest growing challenges for borrowers once they become delinquent.”

The foreclosure inventory rate was near flat at 0.3% in the month, still near the historical low of 0.2%.

Broken down by type, early-stage delinquencies–defined as 30 to 59 days past due–were 1.6%, flat from September 2024.

Adverse delinquencies–defined as 60 to 89 days past due–were 0.5%, also flat year-over-year.

Serious delinquencies–90 or more days past due, including loans in foreclosure–were 1%, up from 0.9% in September 2024.

And the transition rate–the share of mortgages that moved from current to 30 days past due–was 0.7%, down from 0.8% in September 2024.

Year-over-year, 18 states saw increases in their overall delinquency rate. Leading the way, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia were each up 0.2 percentage point.