With the housing market crash of 2008 more than seven years in the rear view mirror, default-related housing metrics have been considerably declining for a sustained period of time. One notable declining statistic that is a testament to returning stability in the housing market is that of residential mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent, or 60-plus days overdue. That number dropped from 1 point 97 million in November 2014 down to 1 point 65 million in November 2015, a decrease of 16 percent, according to data released by HOPE NOW.
Black Knight Financial Services reported a similar decline in serious delinquencies in its December 2015 Mortgage Monitor released earlier this week. According to Black Knight, the number of residential mortgage loans that were 90-plus days past due but not in foreclosure totaled 808 thousand at the end of December 2015, a decline of nearly 26 percent year-over-year from the 1 point 09 million serious delinquencies reported at the end of the year in 2014.
According to a Securities Exchange Commission 8-K filing on Wednesday, Wells Fargo reached an agreement in principle with the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, and HUD to settle claims of quote, reckless, close quote underwriting practices by the bank. Wells Fargo agreed to pay 1 point 2 billion dollars to cover losses suffered by the FHA when the loans defaulted.