Not a single state posted annual gains in overall or serious mortgage delinquency rate in April as the national rate plummeted to a low not reached in over 20 years, according to CoreLogic. Unemployment lows, home price growth and responsible underwriting supported the drop.
"Thanks to a 50-year low in unemployment, rising home prices and responsible underwriting, the U.S. overall delinquency rate is the lowest in more than 20 years," Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic, said in a press release.
About 3.6% of mortgages were in some state of delinquency in April, a decline from 4.3% over the same period last year; the overall delinquency rate has been falling for
The serious delinquency rate, measuring mortgages 90 or more days past due, shot down to 1.3% — a share that hasn't been matched since August 2005. The foreclosure inventory rate, accounting for mortgages in any state of the foreclosure process, has held steady for the previous five months at 0.4%, the lowest for any rate since at least January 1999.
"However, a number of metros that suffered a natural disaster or economic decline contradict this national trend. For example, in the wake of the 2018 California Camp Fire, the serious delinquency rate in the Chico, Calif., metro area this April was 21% higher than one year ago," said Nothaft.
Recent flooding in the Midwest could also signal an increase in delinquency rates in hard-hit areas, similar to the results of hurricanes, according to CoreLogic President and CEO Frank Martell.
