by Calculated Risk on 9/23/2022 08:11:00 AM

From Black Knight: Black Knight: Mortgage Delinquencies Near Record Low in August; Foreclosure Starts Up 15% from July, Still More Than 40% Below Pre-Pandemic Levels

• The national delinquency rate fell 3.6% in August to 2.79%, just 4 basis points above May 2022’s record low

• Improvement was broad-based, with the number of borrowers a single payment past due falling by 4% and those 90 or more days delinquent down 4.5%

• After dropping steadily over recent months, cure activity also improved in August, with 62K seriously delinquent loans curing to current status, up from 58K in July

• The month’s 20.3K foreclosure starts represent a 15% jump in activity from July, but remain 44% below August 2019 levels

• Likewise, starts were initiated on 3.4% of serious delinquencies; up slightly from July but still less than half the rate seen in the years leading up to the pandemic

• Prepays (SMM) edged up 1.5% for the month, due to calendar-related effects, but are still down by 69% year-over-year as rising rates continue to put downward pressure on both purchase and refinance lending
emphasis added

According to Black Knight's First Look report, the percent of loans delinquent decreased 3.6% in August compared to July and decreased 30% year-over-year.

Black Knight reported the U.S. mortgage delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure) was 2.79% in August, down from 2.89% in July.

The percent of loans in the foreclosure process increased in August to 0.35%, from 0.35% in July. 

The number of delinquent properties, but not in foreclosure, is down 633,000 properties year-over-year, and the number of properties in the foreclosure process is up 43,000 properties year-over-year.

Black Knight: Percent Loans Delinquent and in Foreclosure Process
	August  2022	July 2022	August 2021	August 2020
Delinquent	2.79%	2.89%	4.00%	6.88%
In Foreclosure	0.35%	0.35%	0.27%	0.35%
Number of properties:
Number of properties that are delinquent, but not in foreclosure:	1,489,000	1,543,000	2,122,000	3,679,000
Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory:	185,000	184,000	142,000	187,000
Total Properties	1,674,000	1,728,000	2,264,000	3,867,000