Black Knight: Foreclosure Inventory Improvement Picking Up Speed
Black Knight Financial Services, Jacksonville, Fla., said improvement in the nation’s foreclosure inventory, which has been consistent for some time now, appears to be picking up speed.
The company’s First Look Mortgage Monitor report for May said foreclosure inventory, at 575,000 fell by 3.55 percent from April and fell by 29 percent from a year ago (800,000). At just 1.13 percent of all U.S. single-family homes, the figure represents the lowest number of loans in active foreclosure since summer 2007.
For the month, Black Knight reported 62,100 foreclosure starts in May, a 5.79 percent increase from April but a nearly 20 percent drop from a year ago, representing a 10-year low. Black Knight said May’s foreclosure starts level remained below pre-crisis levels.
The percentages are similar to statistics reported last week by CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif., which said completed foreclosures increased by 0.3 percent to 37,000 in April from 36,000 reported in March. From a year ago, CoreLogic reported completed foreclosures nationwide decreased by 15.8 percent from 43,000 in April 2015, a drop of 68.9 percent from the peak of 117,813 in September 2010. CoreLogic also reported the foreclosure inventory declined by 23.4 percent from a year ago, to 406,000, or 1.1 percent, of all homes with a mortgage compared with 530,000 homes, or 1.4 percent, a year ago. The April foreclosure inventory rate is the lowest for any month since September 2007.
Black Knight also reported despite interest rates at near record lows, prepayment speeds–historically a good indicator of refinance activity–continued to trail 2015 levels. The monthly prepayment rate rose to 1.30 percent in May, up by 3.31 percent from April but down by 2.40 percent from a year ago.
Black Knight said mortgage delinquencies, representing loans 30 or more days past due but not in foreclosure, ticked up slightly in May, by 0.36 percent to 4.25 percent, but fell by 13.47 percent from a year ago.
“It’s normal seasonal behavior for delinquencies to hit their calendar year low in March and then gradually climb throughout the summer and fall months,” said Black Knight Senior Vice President of Data and Analytics Ben Graboske.
Other report data:
–Properties that are 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure: 2.153 million, up by 7,000 from April but down by 325,000 from a year ago.
–Properties 90 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure: 719,000, down by 11,000 from April and down by 160,000 from a year ago.
–Properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory: 574,000, down by 21,000 in April and by 229,000 from a year ago.
–Properties that are 30 or more days past due or in foreclosure: 2.727 million, down by 14,000 from April and by 553,000 from a year ago.
–States with the highest percentage of non-current loans: Mississippi (11.09 percent); Louisiana (9.13 percent); New Jersey (8.86 percent); Maine (7.85 percent); and Alabama 7.85 percent). May marked the first time that New York moved off the highest-percentage list for the first time in years.
–States with the lowest percentage of non-current loans were North Dakota (2.33 percent); Colorado (2.57 percent); Minnesota (2.71 percent); South Dakota (2.92 percent); and Montana 3.03 percent).
