Mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates in March declined to levels not seen in at least six years, according to data from Black Knight Financial Services.
In March, 5.52% of loans were 30 or more days past due, a year-over-year decline of 16.3%. This was the lowest delinquency rate since October 2007, the Jacksonville, Fla., analytic firm said in a report due out Tuesday.
Overall, 2.7 million properties were delinquent last month, which is down 538,000 from a year ago.
Meanwhile, the foreclosure inventory rate fell to 2.1%—a level not seen since October 2008—and is down 37% from a year earlier.
Furthermore, foreclosure starts hit a seven-and-a-half year low as about 88,000 borrowers began the foreclosure process in March.
The top five states with the most delinquent loans are Mississippi (13.4%), New Jersey (12.9%), Florida (12.1%), New York (11%) and Maine (10.6%). Conversely, North Dakota (2.5%), South Dakota (3.4%), Alaska (3.8%), Colorado (3.9%) and Montana (3.9%), have the least amount of non-current loans.
Prepayment rates, historically a reliable indicator of refinance activity, ticked up 21% from February to 0.80%, but this is still down nearly 60% from last year.
These monthly statistics are derived from Black Knight's loan-level database representing roughly 70% of the overall market.
