Black Knight

The distressed mortgage market continues to dry up, with delinquencies shriveling to a record low rate and foreclosure filings dropping annually for 10 consecutive months.

Customer retention for mortgage servicers hit an all-time low at the start of the year, and a sensitive mortgage rate environment is only creating more competition, according to Black Knight.

First-quarter year-over-year results declined at a pair of mortgage bankers active in the acquisitions market as well as at the provider of the most used servicing technology.

Mortgage prepayments came gushing in at the start of the spring home buying season as delinquencies also improved, according to Black Knight.

The number of homeowners likely to qualify for a refinance nearly doubled in a single week following the largest mortgage rate decline since the housing bubble burst, according to Black Knight.

Now that Ocwen settled the servicing practices lawsuit brought by the Massachusetts attorney general, just two outstanding complaints remain from the 30 filed nearly two years ago.

While fading 9.53% annually, February mortgage delinquencies posted a month-over-month increase for the first time in 12 years, according to Black Knight.

Despite the pool of refinance candidates shrinking 30% from late 2017, the incentive for mortgage borrowers to refi shot up at the start of the year on interest rate declines, according to Black Knight.

Mortgage prepayment speeds fell to a 19-year trough despite recent interest rate declines, but could rise if those lower rates lead to an increase in home purchases, according to Black Knight.

Black Knight reported lower net earnings, but higher revenue in the fourth quarter compared with the previous year, driven by growth in the company's software segment.