By ERIN FLYNN JAY
Foreclosure numbers are up by double-digit numbers and industry leaders say they will continue to rise this year.
Earlier this month, ATTOM, a curator of land, property, and real estate data, released its Year-End 2023 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions — were reported on 357,062 U.S. properties in 2023, up 10% from 2022 and 136% from 2021.
CEO Rob Barber told The Mortgage Note several elements may be contributing to the rise in foreclosures.
“Key among them is the increase in interest rates, especially for adjustable-rate mortgages, leading to higher monthly payments for homeowners. Additionally, escalating unemployment rates are a concern,” Barber said.
Barber said…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Distressed homeowners who get behind on their mortgage bills are avoiding foreclosure.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Delinquency Survey was released last week and it showed that delinquencies increased in the third quarter to a rate of 3.62%, up 25 basis points from the second quarter and 17 basis points from a year ago.
Marina Walsh, MBA’s vice president of industry analysis, said that despite the increase, later-stage delinquencies – those 90 days or more past due – declined to the lowest level since the first quarter of 2020.
“The decline in later-stage delinquencies, along with a foreclosure starts rate of 0.14% – which is well below the historical quarterly average of 0.40% – suggest that distressed…
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…
Despite the market correction, housing ended 2022 on a strong note, CoreLogic reports.
Delinquencies and foreclosures were historically low throughout 2022 and remained that way at year-end, with both seeing only minor upticks in December compared to the previous six months. Both hit their bottoms in early 2022 and have barely moved since.
Only 3% of all mortgages in the U.S. were in some stage of delinquency, including in foreclosure, with a 0.4% decrease YOY and less than a 0.1% increase month-over-month.
Serious delinquencies fell 0.7% YOY, accounting for 1.2% of mortgages compared to 1.9% in December 2021 and a high of 4.3% in August 2020. Adverse delinquencies also dropped, down 0.1% YOY to 0.3%.
Homeowners are beginning to feel…
Foreclosure activity fell 5% in November from the month prior, remaining lower than pre-pandemic levels, according to a new report from ATTOM Data. Foreclosure filings were up 57% YOY due to last year’s moratoriums pushing activity to near zero and pushing data to artificially scary highs. But activity remains below what ATTOM considers normal levels. Starts and completions are both up annually as well, by 98% and 64%, respectively, but they too fell month-over-month. Though starts almost doubled YOY, they are just barely above 80% of pre-pandemic activity. “We may be at or near a peak level of foreclosure activity for 2022,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence at ATTOM. “We may continue to see below-normal foreclosure…
Delinquencies dropped to another record low in March, with only 2.7% of all mortgages in the U.S. experiencing some stage of delinquency, according to CoreLogic’s monthly Loan Performance Insights Report. Delinquencies were down 2.2 percentage points from March 2021, when they were at 4.9%. The share of early-stage delinquencies, or loans 30 to 59 days past due, was 1%, unchanged YOY, while the share of adverse delinquencies (60 to 89 days past due) was down 0.1% YOY to 0.3%. Serious delinquencies accounted for only 1.4% of U.S. mortgages, down from 3.5% the year prior and a high of 4.3% in August 2020. The share of mortgages in some stage of the foreclosure process, known as the Foreclosure Inventory Rate, decreased…
In its last weekly report, Black Knight found forbearances largely holding steady in a “typical” pattern for the end of the month. Overall, forbearances rose by 2,300 plans last week. Loans held by portfolios and PSLs increased by 7,300 (+3.5%), though this was tempered by decreases for GSE loans (-1.2%, 2,400) and FHA/VA (-1.1%, 2,700). Plan volume is down 54,700 (-7.3%) month-over-month. Some 78,000 plans are up for review in early May, the next time Black Knight expects to see significant improvement. One-third should expire. Overall, U.S. homeowners are in a good position to come out of forbearance strong. In January, delinquencies dropped to their lowest rate since at least January 1999 thanks to home price appreciation and the strong…
Foreclosure activity rose in all 50 states in Q1 2022, with foreclosure starts and bank repossessions reaching their highest numbers in two years, according to ATTOM’s Q1 2022 Foreclosure Market Report. A total of 78,271 U.S. properties had a foreclosure filing during Q1, up 39% from Q4 2021 and 132% YOY. March alone saw 33,333 properties with foreclosure filings, up 29% from February and 181% YOY. It was the 11th straight month of YOY increases in foreclosure activity. “Foreclosure activity has continued to gradually return to normal levels since the expiration of the government’s moratorium, and the CFPB’s enhanced mortgage servicing guidelines,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence for ATTOM. “But even with the large year-over-year increase…
Homeowners facing foreclosure can now stall proceedings while waiting to receive federal aid. The Federal Housing Agency (FHA) announced that Freddie Mac and Fannie will require servicers to suspend foreclosure activities for up to 60 days if the servicer has been informed that the borrower applied for assistance through the Homeowner Assistance Fund. “FHFA is committed to sustainable homeownership. Today’s action will provide borrowers who need temporary mortgage assistance with additional time to be evaluated for relief through their state’s approved Homeownership Assistance Fund,” said FHFA Acting Director Sandra L. Thompson. The move is meant to help homeowners on the brink of foreclosure who may still be struggling to make on-time payments. The HAF provides up to $9.96 billion for…
Overall foreclosure rates were up 11% month-over-month in February as foreclosure starts soared, according to ATTOM’s February 2022 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. A total of 25,8333 properties had foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled auctions, or bank repossessions). This is a 129% increase from the same time last year. Rick Sharga, executive vice president at RealtyTrac, an ATTOM company, said foreclosure activity this year will mimic February’s growth. “This isn’t an indication of economic turmoil, or of weakness in the housing market; it’s simply the gradual return to normal levels of foreclosure activity after two years of artificially low numbers due to government and industry efforts to protect financially-impacted homeowners from defaulting,” he said. Foreclosures hit their lowest level ever recorded…
