CoreLogic: December Delinquency, Foreclosure Rates at 19-Year Low

CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif., said despite elevated delinquency rates in areas affected by hurricanes and wildfires, overall delinquency and foreclosure rates fell to levels not see since 2000.

The company’s monthly Loan Performance Insights Report said nationally, 4.1 percent of mortgages were in some stage of delinquency (30 days or more past due, including those in foreclosure) in December, a 1.2 percentage point decline in the overall delinquency rate from a year ago (5.3 percent).

CoreLogic said as of December, the foreclosure inventory rate fell to 0.4 percent, down 0.2 percentage points from a year ago, tying the November rate as the lowest for any month since at least January 2000.

The rate for early-stage delinquencies (30-59 days past due) fell to 2 percent in December, down from 2.4 percent a year ago. The share of mortgages 60-89 days past due in December fell to 0.7 percent, down from 0.8 percent a year ago. The serious delinquency rate–90 days or more past due, including loans in foreclosure–fell to 1.5 percent in December, down from 2.1 percent in December 2017. CoreLogic said the serious delinquency rate has been steady at 1.5 percent since August, the lowest level for any month since March 2007.

CoreLogic said the share of mortgages that transitioned from current to 30 days past due fell to 0.9 percent in December, down from 1.2 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, while it peaked in November 2008 at 2 percent.

“Our latest home equity report found that the average homeowner saw a $9,700 increase in their equity during 2018,” said CoreLogic Chief Economist Frank Nothaft. “With additional ‘skin in the game,’ rising equity reduces the chances of a foreclosure, helping to push the foreclosure rate down to its lowest level since at least 2000.”

CoreLogic said since the beginning of 2018, the overall delinquency rate has fallen to pre-housing crisis levels, not seen since early 2006. However, several metropolitan areas in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina continue to recover from natural disasters that impacted those areas. In December, 10 of the 12 metropolitan areas that logged increases in their serious delinquency rate were located in the Southeast, with the largest gains occurring in the Panama City, Fla., metropolitan area.