by Calculated Risk on 6/23/2023 08:21:00 AM

From Black Knight: Black Knight: Past-Due Mortgages Approach Recent Record Lows as Serious Delinquencies Continue Improvement; Prepayments See Seasonal Rise

• Reversing much of April’s calendar-driven spike, the national delinquency rate fell 11 basis points (bps) in May to hit 3.10% – the lowest it’s been other than March 2023’s record of 2.92%

• The number of borrowers a single payment past due improved by 94K (-9.5%), erasing nearly half of the prior month’s increase

• Serious delinquencies (loans 90 or more days past due) continued to improve nationally – falling by 18K (-3.7%) from April, putting this loan population down more than 200K (nearly 30%) since May 2022

• Though foreclosure starts increased to 25.4K for the month (+2.2%), they remain near April’s 6-month low and 41% below the same period in 2019, the last comparable May before the pandemic

• Foreclosure actions were started on 5.1% of serious delinquencies in May, up only marginally from April and still more than a full percentage point below the March 2020 rate at the start of the pandemic

• The number of loans in active foreclosure improved by 4K during the month and is now down 41K (-15%) from March 2020, with foreclosure sales (completions) rising 5.5% from April to 6.8K

• Prepayment activity rose to a 0.54% single-month mortality (SMM) rate – the highest level seen since September 2022, despite interest rates in the 6.7% range – but is still down 40% from May 2022
emphasis added

According to Black Knight's First Look report, the percent of loans delinquent decreased 6% in May compared to April and decreased 3% year-over-year.

Black Knight reported the U.S. mortgage delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure) was 3.10% in May, down from 3.31% the previous month.

The percent of loans in the foreclosure process decreased in May to 0.43%, from 0.44% the previous month. 

   

The number of delinquent properties, but not in foreclosure, is down 20,000 properties year-over-year, and the number of properties in the foreclosure process is up 8,000 properties year-over-year.

Black Knight: Percent Loans Delinquent and in Foreclosure Process
	May 2023	Apr 2023
Delinquent	3.10%	3.31%
In Foreclosure	0.43%	0.44%
Number of properties:
Number of properties that are delinquent, but not in foreclosure:	1,639,000	1,746,000
Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory:	234,000	229,000
Total Properties	1,868,000	1,980,000