For the third straight month, the U.S. mortgage delinquency rate fell to yet another record low in May.
According to Black Knight's "first look" at May 2022 month-end mortgage performance data, the national delinquency rate fell another 5 basis points to 2.75%, with overall delinquencies now down 42% from this time last year.
The month did see a slight seasonal uptick (+0.2%) in early-stage delinquencies (borrowers who’ve missed a single payment), the data and analytics company said.
Meanwhile, serious delinquencies — mortgages that are 90 or more days past due but not yet in foreclosure — saw strong improvement, falling another 7% from April. But even after 21 consecutive months of improvement, the population of seriously delinquent homeowners is still 45% higher than it was prior to the pandemic, Black Knight said.
Despite the elevated levels of serious delinquencies, foreclosure starts fell 12% from April and, at just under 19,000 for the month, continue to hold well below pre-pandemic levels. Similarly, while the number of loans in active foreclosure rose marginally (+1,000), this population also remains well below pre-pandemic norms.
Finally, prepayment activity fell again as mortgage rates continued to climb, with prepays in May down 11.1% from April and down 59.1% from last year.
Black Knight will provide a more in-depth review of the data in its monthly Mortgage Monitor report, which includes an analysis of data supplemented by detailed charts and graphs that reflect trend and point-in-time observations. The Mortgage Monitor report will be available by July 6, 2022.
