Foreclosure Inventory Rate Dropped to 11-Year Low in August

Irvine, CA, November 14, 2017-CoreLogic has released its monthly Loan Performance Insights Report, which shows that, nationally, 4.6% of mortgages were in some stage of delinquency (30 days or more past due including those in foreclosure) in August 2017.

This represents a 0.6 percentage point year-over-year decline in the overall delinquency rate compared with August 2016 when it was 5.2%.

As of August 2017, the foreclosure inventory rate, which measures the share of mortgages in some stage of the foreclosure process, was 0.6%, down from 0.9% in August 2016. This was the lowest foreclosure inventory rate for the month of August in 11 years since August 2006 when it was 0.5%.

Measuring early-stage delinquency rates is important for analyzing the health of the mortgage market. To monitor mortgage performance comprehensively, CoreLogic examines all stages of delinquency as well as transition rates, which indicate the percentage of mortgages moving from one stage of delinquency to the next.

The rate for early-stage delinquencies, defined as 30 to 59 days past due, was 2% in August 2017, down slightly from 2.1% in August 2016. The share of mortgages that were 60 to 89 days past due in August 2017 was 0.7%, unchanged from August 2016. The serious delinquency rate (90 days or more past due) declined 0.5 percentage points year over year from 2.4% in August 2016 to 1.9% in August 2017. The 1.9% serious delinquency rate in June, July and August of this year marks the lowest level for any month since October 2007 when it was also 1.9%, and is also the lowest for the month of August since 2007 when the serious delinquency rate was 1.7%. Alaska was the only state to experience a year-over-year increase in its serious delinquency rate in August 2017.