MBA Chart of the Week: Seriously Delinquent Mortgage Rates and Spreads

Source: MBA’s National Delinquency Survey, www.mba.org/nds

According to the latest results from MBA’s National Delinquency Survey (NDS), the delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties increased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.37% of all loans outstanding at the end of the first quarter. The delinquency rate was down 7 basis points from the first quarter of 2026, decreasing slightly across all three major loan types – FHA, VA and conventional.

The broader trend is that both delinquencies and foreclosures have increased over the past year. Some loans are continuing to move to later stages of delinquency. As shown in this Chart of the Week, the seriously delinquent rate – the non-seasonally adjusted percentage of loans that are 90 days or more past due or in the process of foreclosure –increased for the fourth consecutive quarter to 2.06%.  While this overall level is roughly half the average seriously delinquent rate of 4.19% for the period from the first quarter of 2008 to the most recent quarter, differences by loan type are apparent.

FHA serious delinquencies are becoming pronounced, increasing more than 225 basis points from the previous year and reaching 6.07% in the second quarter of 2026. As of the end of the second quarter of 2026, the seriously delinquent rate for FHA loans was close to 500 basis points higher than the conventional rate. The seriously delinquent rate for VA loans was almost 150 basis points higher than the conventional rate, but well below FHA levels.

 Anh Doan (adoan@mba.org); Marina B. Walsh, CMB (mwalsh@mba.org)