Mortgage Deliquency Rate Ticked Down YOY in January

Irvine, CA, April 10, 2018-Nationally, 4.9% of mortgages were in some stage of delinquency (30 days or more past due, including those in foreclosure) in January 2018, according to CoreLogic released its monthly Loan Performance Insights Report.

This represents a 0.2 percentage point decline in the overall delinquency rate, compared with January 2017 when it was 5.1%.

As of January 2018, the foreclosure inventory rate was 0.6%, down 0.2 percentage points from 0.8% in January 2017. Since August 2017, the foreclosure inventory rate has been steady at 0.6%, the lowest level since June 2007, when it was also 0.6%. The January 2018 foreclosure inventory rate was the lowest for the month of January in 11 years; it was also 0.6% in January 2007.

The rate for early-stage delinquencies-defined as 30-59 days past due-was 2% in January 2018, down from 2.3% in December 2017 and from 2.1% in January 2017. The share of mortgages that were 60 to 89 days past due in January 2018 was 0.8%, unchanged from December 2017 and up from 0.7% in January 2017. The serious delinquency rate-defined as 90 days or more past due, including loans in foreclosure-was 2.1% in January 2018, unchanged from December 2017 and down from 2.3% in January 2017. The January 2018 serious delinquency rate was the lowest for the month of January since January 2007, when it was 1.5%.

“The areas hit by last year’s hurricanes and wildfires are experiencing the ‘pig in a python’ effect on their local delinquency rates. Early-stage delinquencies have largely dropped back to normal, while serious delinquency remains elevated,” said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “In hard-hit markets, like the Houston and Naples metro areas, serious delinquency is triple what it was before the hurricanes. And in the San Juan area of Puerto Rico, serious delinquency has quadrupled.”

Since early-stage delinquencies can be volatile, CoreLogic also analyzes transition rates. The share of mortgages that transitioned from current to 30 days past due was 0.8% in January 2018, down from 1.1% in December 2017 and down from 0.9% in January 2017. This was the lowest for the month of January since at least 2000. By comparison, in January 2007, just before the start of the financial crisis, the current- to 30-day transition rate was 1.2%, while it peaked in November 2008 at 2%.