Serious mortgage delinquency and the foreclosure rate moved lower on a month-over-month basis, while both metrics — along with the non-current rate — improved on a year-over-year basis.
Delinquency of at least one month on U.S. loans that are secured by single-family properties was 4.2 percent as of May. The rate included loans that are in foreclosure.
The non-current rate had no movement compared to one month previous. But it did show an improvement versus the same 31-day period last year, when it was 4.5 percent.
CoreLogic Inc. provided the details Tuesday.
“The strong economy has nudged serious delinquency rates to their lowest level in 12 years,” CoreLogic Chief Economist Dr. Frank Nothaft said in the report.
But the economist noted that natural disasters have hurt some areas.
“The tragic wildfires in the West will likely lead to a spike in delinquencies in hard-hit neighborhoods,” Nothaft explained. “As an example, the wildfire in Santa Rosa last year destroyed or severely damaged more than 5,000 homes. Delinquency rates rose in the aftermath, and in the ensuing months we observed home-price growth accelerate and sales decline. We will likely see the same scenario unfold in fire-ravaged communities this year.”
The non-current rate during May was 7.9 percent in Mississippi, the highest of any state. Louisiana’s 7.0 percent followed, then Florida’s 6.2 percent, New York’s 6.0 percent and Alabama’s 5.7 percent.
Colorado’s delinquency rate was 1.8 percent — the lowest in the country.
Reflected in the U.S. non-current rate was a 90-day rate, including foreclosures, of 1.8 percent.
Serious delinquency was down from 1.9 percent in April and 2.0 percent in May 2017.
The
foreclosure inventory rate ended May at 0.5 percent, improving from 0.6 percent a month earlier and 0.7 percent a year earlier.
New York had a 1.8 percent foreclosure rate, giving it a higher rate than any of its counterparts. Maine’s rate was 1.3 percent, then 1.2 percent in New Jersey, 1.1 percent in Hawaii and 0.9 percent in Florida.
The foreclosure rate was lowest in Colorado: 0.1 percent.
