Cotality: Mortgage Delinquencies Steady in March

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Cotality, Irvine, Calif., released its Loan Performance Indicators, finding that delinquencies were flat in March on an annual basis.

In March 2025, the number of mortgages in some stage of delinquency held at 2.8%.

Broken down by stage, early-stage delinquencies (defined as 30 to 59 days past due) were 1.4%, down from 1.5% in March 2024.

Adverse delinquencies (defined as 60 to 89 days past due) were 0.4%, flat from March 2024.

Serious delinquencies (defined as 90 days or more past due and including loans in foreclosure) were at 1%, an increase from 0.9% in March 2024. However, that’s significantly below the recent high of 4.3% hit in August 2020.

The transition rate (the share of mortgages that transitioned from current to 30 days past due) was 0.6% in March, compared with 0.7% in March 2024.

“Mortgage delinquency rates held steady at a low level in the first quarter of 2025. Roughly 40% of metropolitan areas showed increases in the overall delinquency rate, comparable to the share from the fourth quarter of 2024,” said Molly Boesel, Senior Principal Economist at Cotality. “Those areas posting the largest increases in delinquency rates in early 2025 also experienced natural disasters in 2024, and delinquency rates typically stay elevated in areas with natural disasters for about 9 to 12 months. We can expect mortgage delinquency rates to stay low in 2025 and follow movements in the job market.”

Fifteen states and Washington, D.C., saw year-over-year increases in their overall delinquency rate. D.C. was up 0.7 percentage point, followed by Florida, up 0.3 percentage point, and Nebraska, up 0.3 percentage point.