Foreclosures stay far below pre-pandemic norms
Mortgage delinquencies in the US have once again hit a new record low in April, according to Black Knight.
Down for the second straight month, overall delinquencies dropped four basis points month over month and 40% year over year to 2.80% in April.
“April has historically been one of the worst months for mortgage performance, but this year we’ve bucked yet another trend,” Black Knight wrote in an email to Mortgage Professional America.
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However, prepayment activity suffered from the sharp rise in mortgage rates, as prepays plummeted 19.1% from March and 61.8% from a year ago.
A strong improvement among borrowers who are three or more payments past due – with volumes declining by 8% from March – offset the 7.9% month-over-month increase in the number of borrowers who are a single payment past due.
“But even though such serious delinquencies have fallen between 6% and 12% in each of the past 14 months, volumes remain more than 55% above pre-pandemic levels,” Black Knight noted.
On the other hand, foreclosure starts are holding well below pre-pandemic levels – down nearly 12% from the previous month – though the number of loans in active foreclosures did tick up slightly (+4K).
“That said, active foreclosure inventories remain far, far below pre-pandemic norms,” Black Knight said.
