by Calculated Risk on 2/23/2017 07:00:00 AM

From Black Knight: Black Knight Financial Services’ First Look at January Mortgage Data: Impact of Rising Rates Felt as Prepayments Decline by 30 Percent in January

• Prepayment speeds (historically a good indicator of refinance activity) declined by 30 percent in January to the lowest level since February 2016

  • Delinquencies improved by 3.9 percent from December and were down 17 percent from January 2016

  • Foreclosure starts rose 18 percent for the month; January’s 70,400 starts were the most since March 2016

  • 2.6 million borrowers are behind on mortgage payments, the lowest number since August 2006, immediately following the pre-crisis national peak in home prices

According to Black Knight's First Look report for January, the percent of loans delinquent decreased 3.9% in January compared to December, and declined 16.6% year-over-year.

The percent of loans in the foreclosure process declined 0.5% in January and were down 27.6% 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 4.25% in January, down from 4.42% in December.

The percent of loans in the foreclosure process declined in January to 0.94%.

The number of delinquent properties, but not in foreclosure, is down 413,000 properties year-over-year, and the number of properties in the foreclosure process is down 178,000 properties year-over-year.

Black Knight: Percent Loans Delinquent and in Foreclosure Process
	Jan 2017	Dec 2016	Jan 2016	Jan 2015
Delinquent	4.25%	4.42%	5.09%	5.48%
In Foreclosure	0.94%	0.95%	1.30%	1.76%
Number of properties:
Number of properties that are delinquent, but not in foreclosure:	2,162,000	2,248,000	2,575,000	2,764,000
Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory:	481,000	483,000	659,000	885,000
Total Properties	2,643,000	2,731,000	3,234,000	3,649,000