Delinquency on residential loans soared last month, though the surge was attributed to seasonal factors, Foreclosure starts, however, sank to a 12-year low.
First-lien mortgages that were at least 30 days delinquent or in the foreclosure inventory numbered 2.506 million as of April 30.
The number jumped from 2.279 million as of a month earlier. But the total has receded compared to a year earlier, when it was 2.741 million.
Black Knight Financial Services reported the performance statistics on Wednesday.
Last month’s total consisted of 2.072 million mortgages that were past due at least 30 days but not in foreclosure and 433,000 units in the foreclosure pre-sale inventory.
Based on an estimated 51.0 million loans outstanding, the non-current rate worked out to 4.91 percent.
Delinquency was sharply higher than 4.50 percent as of
March, when there was a whopping 64-basis-point plunge. A big improvement has been made, however, from 5.41 percent as of April 30, 2016.
Mississippi’s non-current rate last month was 10.64 percent, the worst of any state. Louisiana followed with a 9.26 percent rate, then 7.66 percent in Alabama, 7.39 percent in West Virginia and 7.10 percent in Maine.
Colorado’s 2.28 percent non-current rate was the lowest in the nation.
Excluding foreclosures, the 30-day rate was 4.08 percent in April 2017, surging from the previous month’s 3.62 percent. But the 30-day rate improved from 4.24 percent at the same point last year.
“April’s delinquency rate increase was primarily calendar-driven (due to both the month ending on a Sunday and March being the typical calendar-year low) and largely isolated to early-stage delinquencies,” Black Knight explained in the report.
Also reflected in last month’s rate was an 0.85 percent foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate, slipping from 0.88 percent in March and
1.17 percent in April 2016.
There were 52,800 foreclosure starts during April 2017 — the fewest since January 2005. Last month’s starts brought year-to-date 2017 foreclosure starts to 241,400.
