July 17th, 2016
Foreclosure starts are still at their lowest level since the turn of the century, but they just rose for the second month in a row. According to a report from Black Knight Financial Services, there were 69,000 foreclosures started during June of 2016, an increase of more than 11 percent over May.
Mortgages not in foreclosure but more than 30 days past due also experienced a seasonal increase in June. The number of those loans rose to almost 2.2 million, an increase of 25,000 over May. Still, year-over-year delinquencies are down by more than 235,000 overall.
Loans not in foreclosure but more than 90 days past due, termed ?seriously delinquent loans,? dropped by 27,000 from May to June to a total of 692,000. That number is 160,000 fewer ?seriously delinquent? loans than what was recorded in June of 2015.
Loans more than 90 days past due in foreclosure rose 2.3 percent to a rate of 13.54 percent. June 2016 ?completed foreclosures? increased 20.6 percent over last year.
Foreclosure inventory, a measurement of all properties in the foreclosure process, dropped by 16,000 units from May to June. The total inventory in June was 230,000 units less than what was recorded a year ago. An estimated 560,000 properties are currently considered ?in the foreclosure process.?
At the end of the reporting period, 2.7 million mortgage loans were in some stage of foreclosure or delinquency, a drop of almost half a million since June 2015. Non-current rates rose from their six-month benchmarks in three states: Alaska, North Dakota, and Wyoming. Those numbers show how the problems in the gas and oil sectors are already impacting some of the nation?s key energy producing areas.
While western, energy-reliant states are feeling the crunch, the highest rates of non-current loan activity are found in New Jersey, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Rates in those areas clock in at 8.8 percent, 9.2 percent, and 11.2 percent. Maine and Alabama round out the rest of the top five.
Black Knight Services recently reported that prepayment speeds ? typically an accurate indicator of refinancing activity ? increased in June to a 12-month high. The month-over-month jump was a robust 10.3 percent from May. The refinance activity likely corresponds to the historically low interest rates currently in place.
Mortgage industry watchers will keep a close on the new data set to be released in the upcoming Black Knight Services ?Mortgage Monitor? report.
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