Loan Data Shows Making Mortgage Payments got Easier in October

Mortgage prepayments continued unabated in October, even though interest rates rose during the month.  In its "first look" at October loan performance data, Black Knight said the single month mortality rate (SMM) climbed another 16 percent during the month to hit the highest level since May 2013.  The rate, 1.81 percent, is 134 percent higher than the SMS in October of 2018.  

The month also saw strong improvement in the national delinquency rate.  The company said there were 1.786 million loans that were 30 or more days past due but not in foreclosure.  The number dropped 68,000 month-over-month or 3.82 percent and was 98,000 or 6.92 percent lower than a year earlier.  The national rate in October was 3.39 percent which is back within 0.03 percent of the record low it set in May of this year.  

There were 433,000 loans that were seriously delinquent in October, that is 90 or more days past due but not in foreclosure.  This is 10,000 fewer than the number in September and 66,000 fewer than a year earlier.

Foreclosure starts increased 11.42 percent from September to October with 43,900 loans put into the process.  This is down 13.24 percent from the previous October. The foreclosure inventory, loans in process of foreclosure, numbers 255,000 properties, an increase of 3,000 from September but down 12,000 year-over-year.  Loans in foreclosure now represent just short of one-half percent of all active mortgages.

The total of all non-current loans nationally is 111,000 fewer than a year ago at 2.041 million.  The highest rates of non-current loans continue to be in Mississippi at a rate of 10.18 percent of all mortgages followed by Louisiana at 7.72 percent.  Rounding out the top five in October were Alabama, West Virginia, and Arkansas, all in the 6 percent range.

Black Knight will provide more in-depth coverage of October's loan performance data in its next issue of Mortgage Monitor.  It will be published on December 9.