Overall Mortgage Delinquency Rate Declined Close to Historic Low in August

According to Black Knight, the overall mortgage delinquency rate in August declined to 2.79%, down from 3.60% in July. The August delinquency rate is just 4 basis points above the historic low of 2.75% set in May 2022.

Black Night is a Florida-based, award-winning software, data, and analytics company that drives innovation in the mortgage lending and service and real estate industry.

In August, there were 20,300 foreclosure starts, which is a 15% increase from July. However, it remains 44% below the August 2019 rate, holding well below pre-pandemic levels. A total of 1.489 million properties were in early-stage delinquencies, defined as borrowers who missed a single mortgage payment, which is a decrease of 3.61% from July. It is more than a 30% drop from the same period in 2021.

Adding additional background information and his analysis, Andy Walden, vice president of enterprise research at Black Knight, said:

“August’s improvement in mortgage delinquencies was in part a natural correction following July’s calendar-related increate (spurred by the month ending on a Sunday) alongside continued broad-based improvement in serious delinquent inventory in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.”