A First Look At February Delinquency Data

Black Knight Financial Services released its “first look” at February 2017 month-end mortgage performance statistics on Thursday. Overall, the data shows decline in several sectors, notably in prepayments and delinquencies. Prepayment speeds fell 15 percent in February, which Black Knight notes as marking a 40 percent overall year-to-date decline, and the lowest monthly rate in three years.

The total national loan delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure) fell to 4.31 percent, a 0.98 percent decline, in February. This is a year-over-year drop from last year of 5.51 percent. Foreclosure sales dropped month-over-month to 1.87 percent, a decline of 16.23 percent, but increased year-over-year by 0.22 percent. Black Knight data shows that there was a total of 2,605,000 homes in foreclosure or past due at the end of February, a negative difference of 302,000. The current number of homes in foreclosure is at 470,000, the lowest level since June 2007.

The exact numbers of homes in default but not foreclosure dropped as well. February saw a month-over-month drop in properties past due by 30 days or more by 27,000. The total number of these defaults in February was 2,135,000. This is a year-over-year decline as well, by 117,000. Properties that are 90 days or more past due dropped as well, by 23,000; putting the total number at 641,000. This is a year-over-year drop of 131,000.

Foreclosure starts dropped by nearly 18 percent in February to 57,900, coming off of January’s jump, which Black Knight called a “normal byproduct of the typical Oct-Nov yearly peak in serious delinquencies”. This is a 31 percent year-over-year drop.

By state, Mississippi holds the highest number of delinquent loans. 3.37 percent of loans in Mississippi were 90 days or more delinquent in February, a year-over-year decline of 12.50 percent.