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Early-Stage Mortgage Delinquencies Dropped in Q4 2017

past-due-twoAccording to the MBA’s Fourth Quarter 2017 National Delinquency Survey, general downward trends for mortgage delinquencies continued as 2017 wrapped up, even after the impact of a historically damaging hurricane season.

"The 30-day delinquency rate actually dropped by 15 basis points in the fourth quarter of 2017, as homeowners affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria either became current on their payments or moved to later stages of delinquency,” said Marina Walsh, MBA’s Vice President of Industry Analysis. “However, while the earliest-stage delinquency rate dropped, the 60-day and 90-day delinquency rates did increase in the fourth quarter of 2017. Despite the hurricanes and these quarter-over-quarter results, most states are seeing overall mortgage delinquency rates at lower levels than a year ago."

According to the MBA survey, the percentage of loans in the foreclosure process at the end of the fourth quarter was 1.19 percent. This placed Q4 2017 down 34 basis points year-over-year, and down 4 basis points from Q3.

Serious delinquency rates, covering loans that are 90 days or more overdue or actively in the process of foreclosure, increased 39 basis points between Q3 and Q4, hitting 2.91 percent for Q4 2017. However, that total is still 22 basis points lower than in Q4 2016.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, however, mortgage delinquency rates did increase across all types of loans, including FHA, VA, and conventional.

According to the latest Mortgage Monitor Report from the Data and Analytics Division of Black Knight, Inc., mortgage delinquencies hit a 23-month high as 2017 wrapped up, surging by 164,000 year-over-year. However, outside of hurricane-affected areas, Black Knight reported that the national mortgage delinquency rate was actually 11 percent below long-term norms. In these same areas, the total number of past-due or in-foreclosure homes dropped by more than 140,000 as December 2017 wrapped up.

Last year also saw the fewest foreclosure starts nationwide of any year since 2000, with the annual total sitting at 649,000.

About Author: David Wharton

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