Prepayment activity dropped to a nearly 22-year low in September as interest rates rose to nearly 7%. According to Black Knight’s September 2022 First Look. prepayment activity slid by 14.9% to a single-month mortality rate of 0.57% in September, besting January 2019’s record of 0.59%. It’s the lowest level since November 2000. Inflation is a factor in low prepayment activity, says Jacob Channel, LendingTree’s senior economic analyst. “Since the start of the year, inflation has increased significantly and as a result, many households likely have less cash that they can allocate toward non-necessities like putting extra money toward their mortgage payment,” he told MarketWatch. Black Knight also reported that the national delinquency rate fell 0.2% from August to 2.78%. This…
The historically low delinquency rate dropped further in August, closing in on May 2022’s record low, but rising foreclosure starts may cause it to increase, according to Black Knight’s First Look at August 2022 mortgage data. Nationally, delinquencies dropped 3.6% in August to 2.79%. This is just four basis points above May’s record. Improvements were seen across the spectrum of borrowers, with the number of those owing only a single late payment down 4%. Those 90 or more days delinquent fell by 4.5%. Cure activity also increased, with 62,000 seriously delinquent loans curing to current status. Cure rates refer to loans that were delinquent in the prior month but are now current. Start activity rose 15% from July, though it…
Mortgage delinquencies and foreclosure starts increased in June but ultimately stayed below pre-pandemic levels, according to Black Knight’s First Look at June 2022 data. The national delinquency rate rose by nine basis points month-over-month to 2.84%. But the three months prior saw consecutive record lows in delinquencies, meaning the boost has little bite. The increases were distributed across all categories. The number of borrowers late by a single day jumped 5%. Those late by 90 or more days increase by a mere 1%, and that comes on the heels of a 21-month streak of improvement. Foreclosure starts rose by 27% but remained down 40% from pre-pandemic levels. However, it does constitute a 441% YOY increase, which Black Knight notes is…
