Mortgage Delinquencies, Foreclosure Starts Edged Up In June

Black Knight reported its first look at June 2022’s month-end mortgage performance statistics. While the full report won’t be available until Aug. 1, Black Knight said mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures both had upticks in June.

After setting consecutive record lows in each of the past three months, the U.S. mortgage delinquency ticked up 9 basis points last month. However, delinquencies are still down 35% from this time last year.

Foreclosure starts were also up 27% in June, which is still 40% below pre-pandemic levels, marking a 441% year-over-year increase. The foreclosure process was started on the highest share (4%) of serious delinquencies since March 2020, but that’s less than half the “normal” rate seen in the years leading up to the pandemic.

Black Knight also evaluated borrower activity, and reported that the number of borrowers with a single payment past due rose 5%, while serious delinquencies (loans 90 or more days past due but not yet in active foreclosure) broke a 21-month streak of improvement and saw a 1% uptick from May. The number of borrowers in active foreclosure rose by 16,000, Black Knight said. 

Prepayments fell another 7% from May, as rising interest rates continued to put downward pressure on both purchase and refi lending. Overall, Black Knight says, prepay activity is now down 64% year over year.