Tag Archives: Delinquency Rate

The national delinquency rate and foreclosure inventory rate each fell to post-crisis lows in May, Lender Processing Services reported Tuesday. At 6.08 percent, the national delinquency rate in May stood at the lowest level since May 2008, when the rate was 5.96 percent. At the same time, the foreclosure inventory rate slipped to 3.05 percent, which represents the lowest point since March 2009 when the rate was 2.90 percent. Over the last year, foreclosure inventory has plunged 27 percent and also fell by 3.9 percent over the last month.

The steady influx of out-of-state transplants, along with stronger than average employment growth, should keep the housing and apartment sectors in Texas strong, a report from the Dallas Federal Reserve concluded. Using data from the Census Bureau, the report authors D'Ann Petersen and Christina Daly pointed out that Texas is the No. 1 state for domestic in-migration. From July 2011 to July 2012, the Long Star state saw a net 140,888 new arrivals when excluding births or international migration.

While perhaps not completely out of the woods yet, residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS) are on the mend with some improved performance of late, according to Fitch Ratings. An ""improving U.S. housing market and stable macro environment"" are boosting performance, leading Fitch to upgrade about 480 RMBS bonds so far this year and harbor a ""Positive Outlook"" on about 800 RMBS bonds. Looking ahead, the agency does not anticipate widespread upgrades in the year to come.

Among the available foreclosure prevention tools, short sales are becoming the weapon of choice for servicers while the use of loan modifications has slowed, data from Fitch Ratings revealed. For example, among bank servicers, the percentage of resolutions in the loan modification category decreased to 26 percent in the last half of 2012 from 57 percent in the first half of 2010, according to Fitch's latest quarterly index. Meanwhile, short sales showed significant increases over the last couple of years. In 2012, short sales represented 51 percent of resolutions for bank servicers, up from a low of 20 percent in 2010.

Freddie Mac's total mortgage portfolio expanded in April, but growth slowed as purchase and issuance activity declined from March, the GSE reported. According to Freddie Mac's monthly volume summary, its total portfolio grew at an annualized rate of 0.6 percent last month, a setback compared to March's 4.0 percent growth rate but still above January and February's contracting figures. As of the end of the month, the portfolio's ending balance was about $1.95 trillion.

Although data shows women generally earn less income than men, results from a recent Experian study found women come out ahead when comparing how mortgage debt is managed. According to the study, men were more likely to have a higher mortgage loan amount compared to women, but men were also more likely to be delinquent by 60 days or more. Experian found the mortgage origination amount for men was $187,245, which is 4.9 percent higher compared to the amount for women. At the same time, 5.7 percent of men were delinquent on their mortgage compared to 5.3 percent of women.

Month-end mortgage performance data in April continued to point to a recovery as delinquency and foreclosure rates posted record improvements, Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS) reported Wednesday. In April, the delinquency rate sunk below 6.5 percent for the first time since July 2008, according to the data provider. At 6.21 percent, the delinquency rate recorded a month-over-month decrease of 5.81 percent and a year-over-year decline of 9.61 percent. The foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate, which stood at 3.17 percent in April, plunged 24.55 percent from a year ago.

U.S. households experienced higher levels of financial distress in the first quarter as they faced budget constraints and a drop in the savings rate, according to the CredAbility Consumer Distress Index. With a score below 70 indicating a state of financial distress, households barely stayed out of distress with a score of 70.7 out of 100 in the first quarter of this year, down from 71.77 in the previous quarter, CredAbility reported.

In the first quarter of this year, mortgage originations increased, but total outstanding mortgage debt decreased, according to the Household Debt and Credit Report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Delinquencies also improved over the quarter while foreclosure notices declined, according to the report. Total household debt--including mortgages, credit card debt, student loans, and auto loans--declined 1 percent to $11.23 trillion. The two main drivers of the quarterly decline were abating mortgage and credit card debt.

The national mortgage delinquency rate might be ""stubbornly high,"" according to TransUnion, but the delinquency rate would actually reflect normal levels seen 10 years ago if cure or foreclosure timelines were shortened. According to TransUnion, the first quarter national mortgage delinquency rate (60-plus delinquencies) was 4.56 percent, which is more than double the pre-crisis norm. However, when aging, 180-plus delinquencies were taken out of the equation, a new TransUnion analysis found the delinquency rate would actually be around 1 percent.