For the month of May, 2.6% of all mortgages in the U.S. were in some stage of delinquency, a 0.1 percentage point decrease compared to last month and a 0.2 percentage point decrease compared to last year, according to new data from CoreLogic. This is a historic low for delinquencies, as was seen back in March.
According to CoreLogic’s monthly Loan Performance Insights Report, in May 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): 1.3%, up from 1.1% in May 2022
- Adverse delinquency (60 to 89 days past due): 0.4%, up from 0.3% in May 2022.
- Serious delinquency (90 days or more past due, including loans in foreclosure): 1%, down from 1.3% in May 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 May 2022.
- Transition rate (the share of mortgages that transitioned from current to 30 days past due): 0.6%, unchanged from May 2022.
State and metro takeaways:
- Fourteen states posted an annual increase in overall delinquency rates. The states with the largest increases were Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi and Pennsylvania (all up by 0.2 percentage points).
- An additional 14 states saw no change in overall delinquency rates year over year. The remaining states’ annual delinquency rates dropped between 0.3 and 0.1 percentage points.
- 168 metro areas posted an increase in overall year-over-year delinquency rates. Elkhart-Goshen, Indiana and Punta Gorda, Florida (both up by 1 percentage point) led, followed by Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida and Lubbock, Texas (both up by 0.9 percentage points).
- Three metro areas posted an increase in serious delinquency rates, while changes in other metros ranged between -1.3% and 0.0%.
- The metros that saw increases were Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida and Punta Gorda, Florida (both up by 0.7 percentage points) and Elkhart-Goshen, Indiana (up by 0.2 percentage points).
Major takeaway:
“May’s overall mortgage delinquency rate matched the all-time low, and serious delinquencies followed suit,” said Molly Boesel, principal economist at CoreLogic. “Furthermore, the rate of mortgages that were six months or more past due, a measure that ballooned in 2021, has receded to a level last observed in March 2020.“
Boesel continued, “A very strong job market continues to help borrowers pay their mortgages on time. The U.S. economy has added nearly 25 million jobs since April 2020 and about 4 million in the last year. As a result, the unemployment rate has ranged from 3.4% to 3.7% for the past 16 months. While the job market may slightly weaken over the next year, we project that mortgage performance will remain healthy.”
For the full report, click here.
