Nearly 3 Percent Of U.S. Mortgages In Delinquency

CoreLogic’s monthly Loan Performance Insights Report for April 2022 shows that 2.9% of all mortgages in the U.S. were in some stage of delinquency (30 days or more past due, including those in foreclosure), representing a 1.8 percentage point decrease compared to 4.7% in April 2021.

In April, the U.S. delinquency and transition rates and their year-over-year changes were 1.2% for early-stage delinquencies (30 to 59 days past due), up from 1% in April 2021, while adverse delinquencies (60 to 89 days past due) were 0.3%, unchanged from April 2021. As for serious delinquencies (90 days or more past due, including loans in foreclosure), it came in at 1.4%, down from 3.3% in April 2021 and a high of 4.3% in August 2020.

The foreclosure inventory rate (the share of mortgages in some stage of the foreclosure process) was 0.3%, unchanged from April 2021. The transition rate (the share of mortgages that transitioned from current to 30 days past due) was 0.7%, up from 0.6% in April 2021.

Double-digit annual home price gains for more than the past year resulted in continually increasing equity gains in the first quarter, helping keep U.S. overall mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates near an all-time low in April. Although delinquency and foreclosure numbers were unchanged from March 2022 and last April, both rose slightly from late 2021. This small shift in foreclosure numbers partially reflects lenders ending their forbearance periods for extremely delinquent borrowers rather than the overall health of what remains a relatively solid housing market.

“The U.S. foreclosure rate edged up in spring 2022 after hitting a historic low at the end of 2021,” says Molly Boesel, principal economist at CoreLogic. “Moratoria and forbearance that helped keep homeowners out of foreclosure are expiring for many borrowers, but ongoing strong employment numbers and large amounts of equity should keep foreclosure rates low moving forward.”

In April, all states posted annual declines in their overall delinquency rate. The states with the largest declines were Nevada (down 3.2 percentage points), Hawaii (down 3 percentage points) and New Jersey (down 2.7 percentage points). The remaining states, including the District of Columbia, registered annual delinquency rate drops between 2.6 percentage points and 0.7 percentage points.

All U.S. metro areas posted at least a small annual decrease in overall delinquency rates, with the largest decreases in Odessa, Texas (down 5 percentage points); Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, Hawaii (down 4.9 percentage points); and Midland, Texas (down 4.3 percentage points).