MBA Premier Member White Paper Spotlight: FICO Score Credit Insights
MBA NewsLink recently interviewed MBA Premier Member FICO, Bozeman, Mont., about its new white paper, FICO® Score Credit Insights.
MBA NewsLink: Can you briefly describe the key insights or findings presented in your white paper?
FICO: Here’s a summary of the mortgage insights:
Rising Mortgage Delinquencies
The 30-plus-day mortgage delinquency rate increased to 4.7% in 2025, a 64% rise since 2022 but remains well below 2009 levels.
Economic Challenges Impact
Inflation, higher interest rates, and expired payment accommodations contribute to rising delinquencies, despite rising home equity.
Mortgage Balances and Affordability
Mortgage balances grew 39% among lower-scoring consumers since 2019, outpacing inflation amid affordability challenges.
Payment Hierarchy by Credit Score
Mortgage payments rank second overall but top priority for prime borrowers with FICO scores above 700.
Loan Performance by Score
The serious delinquency rate (SDQ) at any given score has gradually increased for mortgage, primarily driven by subprime borrowers. (NewsLink Note: FICO does not provide a specific definition of subprime, as each lender has a different view of what constitutes subprime.) Performance data one year after initial scoring highlights some of the benefits of consuming refreshed scores.
a. Score refresh is particularly valuable for lower scoring borrowers in identifying potential areas of risk.
b. There are pockets of value for originators/investors to refresh scores for higher scoring borrowers.
Geographic Score Distribution
The average FICO Score decreased two points to 715 since 2024 but states with lower average scores saw greater score decreases year over year. Conversely, states with higher average scores generally had smaller score decreases in the past year. This is indicative of worsening economic conditions for borrowers at the lower end of the credit spectrum.
MBA NewsLink: Who is the primary audience for your new white paper?
FICO: Lenders, servicers, investors, analysts.
MBA NewsLink: What actions would you like readers to take after engaging with your white paper?
FICO: Utilize the data to help make forecasts and business decisions.
Reach out to FICO’s Mortgage and Capital Markets team to discuss the full report and more.
(MBA Premier Member White Paper Spotlights are provided by the Mortgage Bankers Association as a service to MBA Premier Members. Publication does not constitute an endorsement of a particular company, product or service. For more information about the MBA Premier Member program, contact MBA Director of Associate Membership Alicia Goncalves, CMB, at agoncalves@mba.org or call 202/557-2920.)
