CoreLogic: Early-Stage Mortgage Delinquencies Dip Again in November
CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif., said 5.1 percent of mortgages were in some stage of delinquency (30 days or more past due including those in foreclosure) in November, just slightly below the level from a year ago.
The company’s monthly Loan Performance Insights Report said the foreclosure inventory rate fell to 0.6 percent, down 0.2 percentage points from 0.8 percent a year ago. The foreclosure inventory rate has held steady at 0.6 percent since August, the lowest level since June 2007 when it was also at 0.6 percent. This past November’s foreclosure inventory rate was the lowest for a November in 11 years.
The report said the rate for early-stage delinquencies, defined as 30-59 days past due, fell to 2.2 percent in November, down 0.1 percentage points from 2.3 percent in October and unchanged from 2.2 percent a year ago. The share of mortgages 60-89 days past due in November was unchanged at 0.9 percent from October and up from 0.7 percent a year ago. The serious delinquency rate, 90 days or more past due, rose to 2.0 percent in November, up from 1.9 percent in October and down from 2.3 percent a year ago. Prior to November, the serious delinquency rate had held steady for five consecutive months at 1.9 percent, the lowest level for any month since October 2007 when it was also 1.9 percent.
“The effects of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria appear clearly in our mortgage delinquency report,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Serious delinquency rates are up sharply in Texas and Florida compared with a year ago, while lower in all other states except Alaska. In Puerto Rico, the serious delinquency rate jumped to 6.3 percent in November, up 2.7 percentage points compared with a year before. In the Miami metropolitan area, serious delinquency was up more than one-third from one year earlier to 5.1 percent, and it more than doubled to 4.6 percent in the Houston area.”
Last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported the delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties increased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.17 percent of all loans outstanding at the end of the fourth quarter.
The MBA 4th Quarter National Delinquency Survey said the delinquency rate increased by 29 basis points from the previous quarter and by 37 basis points from a year ago. The percentage of loans on which foreclosure actions started during the fourth quarter held 0.25 percent from the third quarter and fell by three basis points from a year ago.
CoreLogic said the share of mortgages that transitioned from current to 30 days past due fell to 1 percent in November, down from 1.1 percent in October and unchanged from 1 percent a year ago. By comparison, in January 2007, just before the start of the financial crisis, the current-to-30-day transition rate was 1.2 percent and peaked in November 2008 at 2 percent.
“Transition rates for 60-day and 90-day delinquency, while stable across most of the country, were up sharply in many areas impacted by the 2017 hurricanes,” said Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “In many of the harder-hit regions, such as the Houston and Miami metropolitan areas, housing stock availability has taken a hit as many homes were damaged and are no longer habitable. As a result, we expect to see further upward pressure on prices and rents for habitable homes, which will continue to erode affordability.”
