Over the last few weeks, report after report after report after report all show the same thing – more Americans are paying the mortgages on time right now than at any time since the housing crisis, at least.
The most recent report, from Black Knight Financial Services, showed that there were fewer loans in foreclosure in the month of July than in any month in more than 10 years.
Recent data from Transunion showed that mortgage delinquency rates fell to the lowest rate in 10 years during the second quarter, while a recent report from S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian showed that in July, the average mortgage default rate hit its lowest level in a decade.
And the most recent report from CoreLogic showed that mortgages in some stage of delinquency – that’s 30 days or more past due and includes those in foreclosure – fell to a 17-year low in the month of May.
Now, a new report from the Mortgage Bankers Association shows that the delinquency rate for mortgages on one-to-four-unit residential properties fell to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.24% of all loans at the end of the second quarter of 2017.
That’s the lowest that figure has been since 2000.
The MBA defines the delinquency rate as loans that are at least one payment behind but does not include loans in foreclosure.
According to the MBA’s National Delinquency Survey, the second quarter delinquency rate declined 47 basis points from the previous quarter, and was also down 42 basis points from one year ago.
The MBA report also showed that the percentage of loans in the foreclosure process at the end of the second quarter was 1.29%, down 10 basis points from the previous quarter and down 35 basis points from one year ago.
The MBA report also showed that during the second quarter, mortgage delinquencies for all loan types – including conventional, Federal Housing Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs – fell to lows not seen in at least 12 years.
According to the MBA report, the conventional delinquency rate fell from 4.04% in the first quarter to 3.47% in the second quarter, on a seasonally adjusted basis.
That’s the lowest that figure has been since 2005.
But that’s nothing compared to the FHA and VA delinquency rates.
The FHA delinquency rate fell from 8.09% to 7.94%, reaching its lowest level since 1996.
And the VA delinquency rate dropped to 3.72% from 3.9% in the first quarter – its lowest level since 1979.
According to Marina Walsh, MBA’s vice president of industry analysis, the foreclosure inventory rate was also at its lowest level since the first quarter of 2007.
“The employment outlook continues to support loan performance. Monthly job growth topped 200,000 jobs in June for the fourth time in the first six months of the year,” Walsh said.
“Job growth in the month of July also topped 200,000,” Walsh added. “Possible factors that could influence a directional change include rising loan-to-value and debt-to-income ratios for certain product types, as affordability is stretched by tight inventory and rising home prices, and normal loan aging.”
