The overall number of borrowers delinquent on their mortgages fell by 340,000 in July. That’s down by 9% from June. (These are figures from Black Knight, which collects delinquency numbers monthly. The Mortgage Bankers Association, on the other hand, releases its survey only quarterly. The most recent MBA figures show that overall delinquencies spiked in the second quarter.)
But the number of homeowners who are behind by at least 90 days increased by 376,000 in July, according to Black Knight. That’s a 20% increase from June. Serious delinquencies are now 1.8 million higher than before the pandemic and are at their highest level since early 2010.
Foreclosures rose in July even through moratoriums on foreclosures were still in place during July.
Mortgage delinquencies track closely with unemployment. The top five states with borrowers who have serious delinquencies are Mississippi, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, and Alaska.
Quarterly data from the Mortgage Bankers Association also found the increase in serious delinquencies with the 60-day delinquency rate reaching a new survey high, and the 90-plus-day delinquency rate climbing to its highest level since the third quarter of 2010.
This isn’t good news for banks with big mortgage portfolios–such as Wells Fargo (WFC)–and for non-banks such as Rocket Companies (RKT), which just went public.
