by Calculated Risk on 4/23/2019 08:58:00 AM

From Black Knight: Black Knight’s First Look: Prepayments Surge on Lower Interest Rates; Seasonal Delinquency Rate Improvement Remains Muted

• Prepayment activity increased by 28% month-over-month, the largest single-month increase in more than 2.5 years, in response to declining interest rates and the start of the homebuying season

• The national delinquency rate fell by 5.3% for the month, the smallest improvement for any March in six years in what is typically the strongest-performing month of the year

• March 2019 ended on a Sunday, which has historically led to an increase in delinquencies, and came on the heels of February’s atypical increase in delinquencies

• At 40,400 for the month, foreclosure starts were down 19.5 percent from January and edged close to September 2018’s 15-year low

• The month’s 39,700 foreclosure starts marked the lowest single-month volume in more than 18 years, while reduced outflow held active foreclosure inventory steady at 264,000

• Outstanding 90-day delinquencies have now fallen below 500,000 for the first time in more than 12 years

According to Black Knight's First Look report for March, the percent of loans delinquent decreased 5.3% in March compared to February, and decreased 2.0% year-over-year.

The percent of loans in the foreclosure process decreased 0.2% in March and were down 18.8% 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 3.65% in March, down from 3.89% in February.

The percent of loans in the foreclosure process decreased slightly in March to 0.51% from 0.51% in February.

The number of delinquent properties, but not in foreclosure, is down 9,000 properties year-over-year, and the number of properties in the foreclosure process is down 57,000 properties year-over-year.

Black Knight: Percent Loans Delinquent and in Foreclosure Process
	Mar 2019	Feb 2019	Mar 2018	Mar 2017
Delinquent	3.65%	3.89%	3.73%	3.62%
In Foreclosure	0.51%	0.51%	0.63%	0.88%
Number of properties:
Number of properties that are delinquent, but not in foreclosure:	1,903,000	2,019,000	1,912,000	1,831,000
Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory:	264,000	264,000	321,000	448,000
Total Properties	2,167,000	2,284,000	2,232,000	2,279,000