Note: Loans in forbearance will be counted as delinquent in this survey, so the delinquency rate will jump in April (see Black Knight’s on this below)
From Black Knight: Black Knight’s First Look: Mortgage Delinquencies See First-Ever March Increase from Early COVID-19 Impact; Foreclosures, Serious Delinquencies Hit Record Lows
• In what’s typically the strongest month of the year for mortgage performance, delinquencies rose by 3.33%, the first March increase since the turn of the century, an early sign of COVID-19’s impact on the market
• Both the national foreclosure and 90-day delinquency rates set new record lows in March, a lingering reminder of the strength of the mortgage market heading into the pandemic
• At just 27,600 for the month, foreclosure starts also fell to their lowest level on record, as COVID-19-related moratoriums began to impact foreclosure inflows
• Prepayment activity jumped by nearly 40% in March, driven by record-low 30-year mortgage rates
• Note: For the purposes of this report going forward, the millions of homeowners who have since entered into forbearance will be counted as past due, but should not be reported as such to the credit bureaus by their servicers
emphasis added
According to Black Knight’s First Look report for March, the percent of loans delinquent increased 3.3% in March compared to February, and decreased 7.3% year-over-year.
The percent of loans in the foreclosure process decreased 7.7% in March and were down 18.0% over the last year.
Black Knight reported the U.S. mortgage delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure) was 3.39% in March, up from 3.28% in February.
The percent of loans in the foreclosure process decreased in March to 0.42% from 0.45% in February.
The number of delinquent properties, but not in foreclosure, is down 111,000 properties year-over-year, and the number of properties in the foreclosure process is down 44,000 properties year-over-year.
| Black Knight: Percent Loans Delinquent and in Foreclosure Process | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2020 |
Feb 2020 |
Mar 2019 |
Mar 2018 |
|
| Delinquent | 3.39% | 3.28% | 3.65% | 3.73% |
| In Foreclosure | 0.42% | 0.45% | 0.51% | 0.63% |
| Number of properties: | ||||
| Number of properties that are delinquent, but not in foreclosure: | 1,792,000 | 1,737,000 | 1,903,000 | 1,1912,000 |
| Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory: | 220,000 | 239,000 | 264,000 | 321,000 |
| Total Properties | 2,013,000 | 1,976,000 | 2,167,000 | 2,232,000 |