A recent National Delinquency Survey conducted by NHC member Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) finds that mortgage foreclosures and delinquencies are on a downward trajectory, with one-to-four unit residential properties decreased to a rate of 4.77 percent of all outstanding loans in the fourth quarter of 2015. This rate is at its lowest level since the third quarter of 2006 and includes loans that are at least one payment past due and not loans that are in the process of foreclosure.
The survey also found that the percentage of foreclosures started in the fourth quarter of 2015 was at 0.36, a decrease from the previous quarter and a significant drop of 10 points from the same time in 2014. The foreclosure start rate of 0.36 percent is at its lowest level since the second quarter of 2003. Additionally, the survey found that the percentage of loans in the process of foreclosure at the end of the third quarter was 1.77 percent, down 50 points from the same time in 2014.
“As the job market has improved and national home prices have rebounded, fewer borrowers were becoming seriously delinquent, while borrowers previously behind on their payments were in a better position to pursue alternative options to resolve delinquent loans,” MBA’s Vice President of Industry Analysis, Marina Walsh, said in a press release. “Mortgage performance is closely connected to job market health and most states saw employment growth continue over the past year.”
With communities across the country left blighted as a result of the foreclosure crisis, data to show its decline in the last year speaks to the progress made as the result of various neighborhood revitalization efforts. Our Restoring Neighborhoods Task Force uses research, policy and best practices for comprehensive community development to assist neighborhoods that are still recovering from the foreclosure crisis, the recession or underinvestment and neglect. Find recordings of past meetings on our website and email Policy Associate Kaitlyn Snyder at ksnyder@nhc.org to learn more and to join.
To view the survey results in their entirety, email aahmad@mba.org.