Delinquencies Fall to Nine-Year Low: Black Knight

Mortgage loan delinquencies fell to their lowest level recorded since March 2007, according to Black Knight Financial Services.

Mortgage delinquencies dropped 8.37% in March on a month-over-month basis and 12.4% from last year to 4.08%, according to a report released Friday. Total noncurrent inventory, foreclosures and delinquencies as a percent of active loans, fell by more than half a million loans from last year.

Foreclosure starts fell 13.6% from the previous month to 72,800 in March on continued repeat foreclosure activity. Mississippi leads the country in highest noncurrent percentage at 10.8%, followed by New Jersey (9.07%) and Louisiana (8.89%). North Dakota has the lowest (2.02%), followed by Colorado (2.53%) and Minnesota (2.64%).

The monthly prepayment rate for the month was 1.3%, a 46% month-over-month increase and a 16.9% decline from last year's figure.