Black Knight: 474,000 Mortgaged Properties in FEMA-Declared Florence Disaster Areas

Black Knight, Jacksonville, Fla., said nearly 500,000 mortgaged properties sit in the 34 counties in North and South Carolina declared as disaster areas resulting from Hurricane Florence.

Those counties include 20 percent of all mortgaged properties in North Carolina and 10 percent of those in South Carolina. Black Knight said homes in these areas tend to be more heavily leveraged than the national average, with average combined loan-to-value ratios of 63 percent as compared to the national average of 51 percent

Black Knight noted just prior to Hurricane Florence, these areas also had a higher-than-average delinquency rate of 4.4 percent, compared to the national average of 3.5 percent.

Additionally, the company’s monthly Mortgage Monitor report said while Veterans Administration loans account for 5 percent of the national market, VA loans make up 20 percent of mortgages in areas impacted by Hurricane Florence.

Ben Graboske, executive vice president of Black Knight’s Data & Analytics division said if the post-storm trajectory follows that of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, thousands of Americans affected by Hurricane Florence could become past-due in the coming months.

“Although the situation in the Carolinas continues to evolve as we speak, we are beginning to get a sense of the potential scope of the storm’s impact from a mortgage performance aspect,” Graboske said. “As those affected by the storm begin recovery efforts, recent history suggests many will have some difficulty remaining current on their mortgages.”

Graboske added while negative equity in the affected area is limited, at just over 3.0 percent of the population, “higher leverage is certainly something to monitor, particularly for borrowers who are financially impacted by the storm. That becomes even more of an issue when you consider the area’s disproportionate concentration of VA mortgages,” he said.

Other report data:

–Total U.S. loan delinquency rate: 3.52 percent in August, down by 2.43 percent from July

–Total U.S. foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate: 0.54 percent, down by 4.41 percent from July.

–States with highest percentage of non-current loans: Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, West Virginia, Arkansas.

States with lowest percentage of non-current loans: Colorado, Oregon, California, Washington, North Dakota

–States with highest percentage of seriously delinquent loans: Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida.