Mortgage performance improved in 2017

Mortgage delinquencies were elevated at the end of 2017 but this mostly reflected the impact of the hurricane season

Mortgage performance improved in 2017
Mortgage delinquencies were elevated at the end of 2017 but this mostly reflected the impact of the hurricane season.

Data from Black Knight Data & Analytics shows that overall delinquencies were up 164,000 at the end of 2017 compared to a year earlier, taking the rate to a 23-month high; but in non-hurricane areas delinquency rates were lower than long-term levels.

"Hurricanes Harvey and Irma significantly impacted 2017 mortgage performance metrics," Black Knight EVP Ben Graboske explained. "When Black Knight isolated non-hurricane-impacted areas – which represent 90% of the entire active U.S. mortgage universe – we see the national delinquency rate actually fell to 11% below long-term norms.”

The total number of mortgages either past due or in foreclosure fell by more than 140,000 in non-hurricane-affected areas, pushing the non-current rate in these areas down to 10% below long-term norms.

Foreclosures fell to new lows
Total foreclosures were at their lowest since 2000 with 649,000 initiated in 2017. First-time foreclosure starts were the lowest on record at 15% below the 2016 level. Foreclosure completions were the lowest since the turn of the century.

“All in all, the inventory of loans in active foreclosure is on track to normalize in 2018,” said Graboske. “That said, there are still issues with aged inventory; more than 125,000 active foreclosures have had no payments made in more than two years. Of those, some 63,000 have gone unpaid for five years or more."