A first look at Black Knight data shows continuing strength for loan performance
US mortgage delinquencies fell by more than 5% in January and reached a new record low.
Data from Black Knight shows that as well as being the lowest since the firm began tracking mortgage delinquencies in 2000, the year-over-year decline of 14% is the strongest in more than 12 months, as the rate of improvement has been picking up speed in recent months.
The stats also show that the number of non-current loans fell below 2 million for the first time in 15 years and have not been lower since March 2005.
Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, West Virginia, and Arkansas were the top 5 states by non-current percentage. Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California had the lowest rates of non-current mortgages.
However, there was bad news on foreclosure starts which were higher in January than in December, although the 42,800 figure was 15% below that of January 2019.
The number of loans in active foreclosure increased by 1,000 but decreased 19,000 from the same time last year, leaving the national foreclosure rate unchanged at 0.46% of the active mortgage universe.
Prepayment activity fell 15% from December but was up 113% from January 2019.
