by Calculated Risk on 1/22/2020 12:59:00 PM

From Black Knight: Black Knight’s First Look: Strong Close to 2019 Pushes Mortgage Delinquency Rate to Near Record Low

• Mortgage delinquencies fell by nearly 4% month-over-month to within 0.04% of the record low set in May 2019 and more than 12% below last year’s level

• The national foreclosure rate fell again in December to reach a new 14-year low, and the lowest on record outside the final five months of 2005

• 2019 ended with just over two million borrowers past due on their mortgage (including active foreclosures) – down 236,000 from the same time last year and the lowest year-end volume since the turn of the century

• After falling by 19% in November, prepayment rates ticked upward in December, suggesting that the recent leveling off of interest rates has had a flattening effect on refinance activity

According to Black Knight's First Look report for December, the percent of loans delinquent decreased in December compared to November, and decreased 12.4% year-over-year.

The percent of loans in the foreclosure process decreased 1.6% in December and were down 11.6% 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 3.40% in December, down from 3.53% in November.

The percent of loans in the foreclosure process decreased to 0.46% from 0.47% in November.

Black Knight: Percent Loans Delinquent and in Foreclosure Process
	Dec 2019	Nov 2019	Dec 2018	Dec 2017
Delinquent	3.40%	3.53%	3.88%	4.71%
In Foreclosure	0.46%	0.47%	0.52%	0.65%
Number of properties:
Number of properties that are delinquent, but not in foreclosure:	1,803,000	1,868,000	2,013,000	2,412,000
Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory:	245,000	248,000	271,000	331,000
Total Properties Delinquent or in foreclosure	2,047,000	2,116,000	2,283,000	2,743,000