Mortgage Monitor: "Nearly 2 million modified mortgages face interest rate resets"

Black Knight Financial Services (BKFS, formerly the LPS Data & Analytics division) released their Mortgage Monitor report for April today. According to BKFS, 5.62% of mortgages were delinquent in April, up from 5.52% in March. BKFS reports that 2.02% of mortgages were in the foreclosure process, down from 3.17% in April 2013.

This gives a total of 7.64% delinquent or in foreclosure. It breaks down as:

• 1,634,000 properties that are 30 or more days, and less than 90 days past due, but not in foreclosure.
• 1,187,000 properties that are 90 or more days delinquent, but not in foreclosure.
• 1,016,000 loans in foreclosure process.

For a total of ​​3,837,000 loans delinquent or in foreclosure in April. This is down from 4,699,000 in April 2013.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph from BKFS shows the number of modified loans that face interest rate resets by date of modification.  From BKFS:

An analysis of mortgage performance data showed that, as of April, there were approximately 2 million modified mortgages facing interest rate resets. Furthermore, more than 40 percent of those loan modifications are currently underwater.

“We have seen a continual reduction in the number of underwater borrowers at the national level for some time now, but modified loans show a different picture,” said Kostya Gradushy, Black Knight’s manager of Loan Data and Customer Analytics. “While the national negative equity rate as of April stands at 9.4 percent of active mortgages, the share of underwater modified loans facing interest rate resets is much higher -- over 40 percent. In addition, another 18 percent of modified borrowers have 9 percent equity or less in their homes. Given that the data has shown quite clearly that equity -- or the lack thereof -- is one of the primary drivers of mortgage defaults, these resets may indeed pose an increased risk in the years ahead."
emphasis added

There is much more in the mortgage monitor.