In November, mortgage delinquencies fell to a coronavirus-era low point while foreclosures hit their bottommost rate ever, according to Black Knight.
Loans at least 30 days late on their payment or already in foreclosure at the end of November dropped to nearly 3.56 million from
The delinquency rate — which does not include loans in foreclosure — tumbled to 6.33% from 6.44% month-over-month while eclipsing the year-ago rate of 3.53%.
Seriously delinquent borrowers — those late on their payments for 90 days or more but not yet in foreclosure — similarly declined to 2.19 million from 2.26 million but quintupled the 439,000 from November 2019.
At the state level, Mississippi and Louisiana had the highest share of noncurrent mortgages for the second month in a row. They posted rates of 11.11% and 10.74%, respectively, with Hawaii following at 9.45%. Idaho again led with an improved noncurrent share of 3.45%, trailed by 4.06% in Washington and 4.19% in Colorado.
The three states with the highest delinquency share also had the worst rates of serious delinquency. Mississippi's 6.58% was highest in the nation, followed closely by Louisiana's 6.51% and 5.8% in Hawaii.
About 4,400 loans started the foreclosure process in November, alongside 176,000 mortgages in active foreclosure. Those fell from 4,700 and 178,000 in October and 33,500 and 248,000 the year before. November's totals are the lowest since Black Knight started tracking them in 2000. These should remain at artificially held nadirs at least through the end of January and could continue as long as CARES Act protections
Prepayment activity came down to 2.82% from October's all-time high of 3.17% while exactly doubling the year-ago rate of 1.46%. Prepayment rates should stay elevated as long as
