Black Knight: Mortgage Prepayments Highest in 3 Years

Black Knight Financial Services, Jacksonville, Fla., said mortgage prepayment speeds jumped by more than 32 percent in August and by more than 50 percent from a year ago.

The company’s First Look Mortgage Monitor report said prepayments, fueled by post-Brexit activity that saw key interest rates fall back to historic lows, hit the highest single monthly rate in August in more than three years, 1.67 percent.

The report also said mortgage delinquency rates fully recovered from a July spike, falling by 6 percent from a month ago. Inventory of loans in foreclosure fell for the 19th consecutive month and 51 of the past 52 months.

Despite the improving annual numbers, foreclosure starts and sales rose in August from July.

Other key August data:
–Total U.S. loan delinquency rate: 4.24 percent, down by 6.04 percent from July and by 11.41 percent from a year ago.
–Total U.S. foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate: 1.04 percent down by 4.25 percent from July and down by nearly 30 percent from a year ago.
–Foreclosure starts: 68,800, up by 12.23 percent from July but down by 9.71 percent from a year ago.
–Monthly Prepayment Rate: 1.67 percent, up by 32 percent from July and up by 52 percent from a year ago.
–Foreclosure Sales as a percentage of 90+-day delinquencies: 2.15 percent, up by 8.15 percent from July and up by 20.26 percent from a year ago.
–Properties 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure: 2.151 million, down by 135,000 from July and down by 262,000 from a year ago.
–Properties 90 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure: 669,000, down by 26,000 from July and down by 156,000 from a year ago.
–Properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory: 527,000, down by 23,000 from July and down by 221,000 from a year ago.
–Properties 30 or more days past due or in foreclosure: 2.678 million, down by 158,000 from July and down by 483,000 from a year ago.
–States with the highest percentage of non-current properties: Mississippi (11.09%), Louisiana (9.79%), New Jersey (8.28%), Alabama (7.82%) and West Virginia (7.81%).
–States with the lowest percentage of non-current properties: North Dakota (2.25%), Colorado (2.43%), Minnesota (2.76%), Montana (2.93%) and South Dakota (3.03%).