Delinquencies rose in November but remain historically low despite some worrying data about FHA and VA loans.
That’s according to ICE’s First Look at November Mortgage Performance, which clocked delinquencies at 3.39% last month. This is down 10 bps YOY and remains 64 bps below pre-pandemic levels.
Serious delinquencies– loans with missed payments more than 90 days late– increased to 459,000 but are 21% lower than the same time last year.
But while loans remain strong overall, FHA delinquencies hit a 9-year high (excluding the immediate aftermath of the pandemic). Early-stage delinquencies for VA loans also surged, reaching their highest non-pandemic levels since 2009.
Recently originated mortgages are suffering the most thanks to the high interest rates of late 2023.…
Serious mortgage delinquencies fell to their lowest point since 1999 in August, but financial pressures could force them up in the future.
In August, 2.6% of all U.S. mortgages were in some stage of delinquency, down 0.2% YOY and 0.1% from July 2023, according to CoreLogic’s latest Loan Performance Insights Report.
Early-stage delinquencies and adverse delinquencies both increased a modest 0.1% from August 2022, but serious delinquencies declined (-0.3%) to their lowest level in nearly 25 years.
Overall, mortgage delinquencies remain near historic lows.
CoreLogic’s data reflects the stability of homeowners swimming in record-high equity. After slipping through the end of 2022, home prices shot up once again in mid-2023, giving homeowners unprecedented financial security.
With competition for well-priced homes…
Black Knight Origination Technologies has rebranded to Dark Matter Technologies after being acquired by Perseus Operating Group.
Optimal Blue, Black Knight’s secondary market solutions and actionable data services business, was acquired by Perseus, part of Constellation Software Inc., in July. Dark Matter will remain in Florida and keep key executives.
“We’re excited to invest in this industry leader and to bring the impressive product roadmap to life. The leadership, the talented teams, the strong customer relationships — Dark Matter Technologies has everything we look for in an acquisition,” said Tom George, co-president of the Romulus portfolio of Perseus, who led the acquisition with Bonnie Wilhelm, COO of Perseus.
The sale of the unit follows Constellation’s acquisition of Black Knight’s loan-origination…
Mortgage activity dipped in August as rates reached new highs and inventory remained low, according to Black Knight’s latest Mortgage Monitor report.
The 30-year conforming soared above 7.25% last month, its highest level in more than 20 years, before cooling down to 7.07%.
As a result, overall rate lock volumes sank for a third straight month, down 1.5% from July.
“August was another rough month for mortgage borrowers from an interest rate perspective,” said Andy Walden, VP of enterprise research and strategy at Black Knight. “Rates did edge down toward the end of August, but prospective homebuyers still face the least affordable housing market in nearly 40 years.”
The biggest driver was purchase volume, which fell almost a full 2%…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
As officials at the Federal Trade Commission continue to review the proposed acquisition of Black Knight by Intercontinental Exchange, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee is reiterating her concerns about the merger.
U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) has said the two companies play a dominant role in the technology and data underlying the country’s mortgage markets and “such a monopoly would harm our nation’s consumers and our housing market.”
This week, Waters sent a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan offering recommendations for a negotiated settlement agreement, saying there are anti-trust, financial stability, and consumer protection safeguard issues to be considered.
“In addition to potentially creating a housing finance conglomerate that would dwarf all…
Rate lock volumes sank in July as mortgage rates exceeded 7% for the first time since November 2022.
Black Knight’s Optimal Blue Mortgage Market Indices for July found that 30-year conforming rates cross 7% early in the month before bouncing down and up again, ultimately ending the month at 6.88%.
In line with rising rates, lock volumes dipped 7% from June.
“While they moved around a bit in July, there was no escaping the fact that conforming 30-year rates topped 7% in July for the first time since they spiked last fall,” said Andy Walden, vice president of enterprise research and strategy at Black Knight.
“On both a practical and psychological level, that put further downward pressure on mortgage demand.…
Home price appreciation is back to breaking records after a period of declines, pushing homeownership further out of reach for many Americans.
Black Knight’s Home Price Index hit an all-time high in June for both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted levels, up 0.67% from May and 0.8% YOY. This is a serious comeback after 14 straight months of annual declines.
Basically every major American metro saw month-over-month growth explode as demand continues to outstrip supply. In 30 of the country’s 50 largest markets prices have hit new highs.
“We’ve been noting for some months that the recent rate of home price gains would have a lagging, but significant, impact on the annual rate of appreciation. Well, June marked that inflection point……
Competition has returned full force to the housing market as demand for limited inventory sends home prices soaring.
Black Knight’s latest Home Price Index hit a new record in May, with prices up 0.7% month-over-month and 8.9% YOY. This is the fifth consecutive month of gains.
Many markets experienced home price declines in the last few months, but that trend seems to be reversing. Of the 50 largest markets analyzed by Black Knight, 27 hit their prior price peaks or set new records this spring.
“There is no doubt that the housing market has reignited from a home price perspective,” said Andy Walden, Black Knight Vice President of Enterprise Research. “The reheating is widespread, with more than half of the…
Black Knight introduced a new app to speed up applications for home equity lines of credit, the company announced.
The app, Validate, allows borrowers to include photos of their property as part of their application. The photos are then analyzed with AI to calculate the home’s condition in real-time, speeding up the approval process.
Borrowers complete a questionnaire to verify public record data and list any necessary repairs after submitting photos, Black Knight said.
Photos are time-stamped and GPS verified to ensure current property condition and location are accurate. The address is then scored based on comparable properties to create a condition-adjusted valuation model.
Lenders receive the property value and available equity immediately via API or PDF, saving time and…
While May saw a more robust mortgage market, demand is still nowhere near normal.
Black Knight’s latest Originations Market report found that though mortgage originations fared better in May than in April, they remain constrained.
Overall rate lock volumes were up 14% month-over-month in May due to April having two fewer business days. Production was up 4%.
“Indeed, while rate locks on purchase loans rose from April, they also dipped to their lowest level yet relative to 2018/2019 averages as rates rose late in the month,” said Andy Walden, vice president of enterprise research and strategy at Black Knight.
“Mind you, purchase loans have been making up the lion’s share of origination activity for much of the last year, making…
