July 24, 2019
Delinquencies in Long-Term Decline
According to a February report by CoreLogic, the rate of long-term delinquencies in home loans has been on a downward arc—and indeed, as of November 2018 it reached its lowest point since 2000. On the national level, about 4.1 percent of US mortgages stood in some form of delinquency. Here delinquency is defined as being 30 or more days past due, and includes homes that are in foreclosure. This was a 1.1 percent decline from the rate posted in November 2017.
The decline in rate stood true over a spread of activity: Among loans that were more than 30 days overdue, 2.2 percent of those were overdue by 30-59 days (considered “early-stage delinquencies”)—a 0.2 percent decline from November 2017’s rate. 0.9 percent were overdue by 60-89 days, a 0.2 percent decline from November 2017. 1.1 percent were overdue by 90+ days (which put them in the range considered to be in “serious delinquency”), but not in foreclosure, which was a decline of 0.3 percent from a year earlier. And the rate of homes in foreclosure was 0.4 percent, a 0.2 percent fall from the previous November. Again, in terms of raw foreclosure numbers, this put rates lower than at any point since January 2000.
The state with the highest delinquency rate was Mississippi, with a rate of 8.1 percent. The state with the lowest rate of delinquency was Colorado, with a rate of 1.9 percent. And where did the markets served by Topouzis & Associates, P.C. fall in the lineup?
Rhode Island had an overall delinquency rate of 4.7 percent. 1.7 was its rate of serious delinquency. The foreclosure rate was 0.6 percent. (Compare these to November 2017’s rates: 5.5 percent overall delinquency, 2.3 percent serious delinquency, and 0.8 percent rate of foreclosure.)
Massachusetts had an overall delinquency rate of 3.8 percent. 1.4 was its rate of serious delinquency. The foreclosure rate was 0.4 percent. (Compare these to November 2017’s rates: 4.4 percent overall delinquency, 1.8 percent serious delinquency, and 0.6 percent rate of foreclosure.)
Florida had an overall delinquency rate of 4.7 percent. 2.0 was its rate of serious delinquency. The foreclosure rate was 0.8 percent. (Compare these to November 2017’s rates—which were heavily affected by hurricane activity: 9.9 percent overall delinquency, 3.9 percent serious delinquency, and 0.8 percent rate of foreclosure.)
We oversee many issuances of title insurance here at Topouzis & Associates, P.C. Our goal is to put our considerable experience and expertise to use in ensuring that any title we service is issued clear of defect—even if the property has been through foreclosure. Contact us if you want our professional judgment, backed up with a solid insurance plan.
