Distressed

Roughly 16% of home loan borrowers likely have education debt, less than one-third of those may be distressed, Mr. Cooper executives told investors at a conference this week.

Still near historic low levels, the share of borrowers entering the early stages of delinquency in June increased 0.1 percentage point.

Completions in August remained far lower than before COVID-19 arrived in the United States but initial actions rose fast enough to potentially meet expectations that they'll normalize in 2023.

A mix of new distress and declining cures drove the uptick, according to dv01.

The number of these mortgage borrowers getting back on track with payments has been roughly halved since March, according to Black Knight's initial take on July numbers.

The latest increase suggests the housing finance industry is half done with its transition from extraordinary pandemic relief back to more normal loan performance.

Pandemic-related payment suspensions dropped notably for loans held in bank portfolios and private-label securities, but numbers for large government-related markets leveled off, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Recent reports highlight the question of how much wage growth can do to sustain loan performance as pandemic relief gets rolled back, consumer costs rise and the housing market cools.

A few studies released Tuesday add to expectations that the small number of mortgages remaining in forbearance will contribute to a higher foreclosure rate in the future.

But many expect only a slight increase in completions, with the rate at which delinquent mortgages cure outperforming the historic average, according to Auction.com.