Most of the news regarding housing fundamentals has been positive in the last two years or so. But mortgage delinquencies rose month-over-month in January for the first time since the housing recovery began, according to data reported by Black Knight Financial Services on Monday. The share of delinquent mortgage loans has declined by an average of 2 percent month-over-month every January since 2011—until this year.
In January 2016, the share of delinquencies shot up by 6 point 6 percent, an increase of 167 thousand properties. With January’s increase, the total of delinquent properties nationwide was approximately 2 point 57 million, or about 5 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage. On whether the delinquency rate will bounce back in February, the Black Knight report stated that, quote, It is typical to see a partial, but not full, recovery the following month. Close quote
The Federal Reserve has proposed a rule aimed at improving financial stability among larger bank holding companies by limiting excessive credit exposures by a bank to a single counterparty. During the financial crisis, excessive credit exposures between financial institutions resulted in the spread of financial distress and undermined financial stability. The proposal would apply single-counterparty limits to banks with total consolidation assets of 50 billion dollars or more.