For the month of April, 2.8% of all mortgages in the U.S. were in some stage of delinquency, 0.2 percentage point increase compared from last month and a 0.1 percentage point decrease compared to last year, according to a new report from CoreLogic. Despite the increase, mortgage delinquencies still remain near the historic low of 2.6% in March.
 
According to CoreLogic’s monthly Loan Performance Insights Report, in April 2023, the U.S. delinquency and transition rates, and their year-over-year changes, were as follows:

• Early-stage delinquencies (30 to 59 days past due): 1.4%, up from 1.2% in April 2022
• Adverse delinquency (60 to 89 days past due): 0.4%, up from 0.3% in April 2022.
• Serious delinquency (90 days or more past due, including loans in foreclosure): 1.1%, down from 1.4% in April 2022 and a high of 4.3% in August 2020.
• Foreclosure inventory rate (the share of mortgages in some stage of the foreclosure process): 0.3%, unchanged from April 2022.
• Transition rate (the share of mortgages that transitioned from current to 30 days past due): 0.8%, up from 0.7% April 2022.

State and metro takeaways:

• Eleven states posted an annual increase in overall delinquency rates in April. The states with the largest increases were Idaho, Indiana, Michigan and Utah (all up by 0.2 percentage points).
• An additional 11 states saw no change in overall delinquency rates year over year. The remaining states' annual delinquency rates dropped between 0.7 and 0.1 percentage points.
• 161 U.S. metro areas posted an increase in overall year-over-year delinquency rates. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida (up by 1.2 percentage points) led, followed by Punta Gorda, Florida (up by 1 percentage points) and Bloomsburg-Berwick, Pennsylvania (up by 0.8 percentage points).
• Four U.S. metro areas posted an increase in serious delinquency rates (defined as 90 days or more late on a mortgage payment), while five showed no change.
• The metros that saw serious delinquencies increase were Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida (up by 0.9 percentage points); Punta Gorda, Florida (up by 0.8 percentage points); and Elkhart-Goshen Indiana and Idaho Falls, Idaho (both up by 0.1 percentage points).

Major takeaway:
 
“Although almost a dozen states and more than 150 metro areas posted year-over-year increases in overall mortgage delinquency rates in April, U.S. loan performance remains resilient, with delinquencies and foreclosures continuing to hover near record lows,” said the author of the report. “The national overall delinquency rate increased slightly from March to April, but this is a typical seasonal pattern, as tax bills can stretch homeowners’ budgets in the short term and result in late mortgage payments for some borrowers.”
 
“Mortgage performance remained strong in April, with overall delinquencies at minimal levels and serious delinquencies at a 23-year low,” said Molly Boesel, principal economist for CoreLogic. “However, there is concern that mortgages originated in a rising-interest-rate environment may have higher instances of delinquencies, as borrowers become stretched financially. While early delinquencies for 2022 mortgage originations are about the same rate as those in other rising interest-rate environments, loans with low down payments are exhibiting comparably higher-than-usual early delinquencies.”
 
For the full report, click here.

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