In February 2024, the national delinquency rate for residential mortgages stood at 2.8%, marking an 0.2 percentage-point decrease from February 2023. The rate remained unchanged from January 2024, according to the latest CoreLogic Loan Performance Insights report.
The data provider examined all stages of delinquencies to gain a complete view of the mortgage market and loan performance health.
Early-stage delinquencies (mortgages 30 to 59 days past due), accounted for 1.5% of all mortgages in February, up 10 basis points year over year. Adverse delinquencies (loans 60 to 89 days past due) remained at 0.4%, consistent with February 2023. And serious delinquencies (loans 90 days or more overdue or in foreclosure) decreased by 30 basis points to 0.9%.
The foreclosure process affected only 0.3% of mortgages, a rate unchanged from February 2023.
Despite economic challenges, the robust growth in U.S. home equity, which was up by $1.3 trillion (8.6%) on an annualized basis in the fourth quarter of 2023, offers homeowners a significant financial buffer against foreclosure.
“The U.S. delinquency rate fell from a year earlier for the first time in six months in February, indicating that mortgage performance remains strong,” Molly Boesel, principal economist for CoreLogic, said in a statement. “The decrease in delinquencies was driven by the decline in the share of mortgages that were six months or more past due, a number that has been consistently shrinking and fell to its lowest level in 15 years in February.”
“As later-stage delinquencies decrease, the share of mortgages in foreclosure remained at 0.3% in February, where it has been since March 2022 and only slightly higher than the all-time low,” Boesel added.
Overall delinquency rates in February 2024 remained historically low, indicating that the majority of mortgage holders in the U.S. were meeting their payment obligations.
Only four states reported year-over-year increases in overall delinquency rates, while eight states saw no change. Alaska saw the most significant annual decline, down by 0.4 percentage points. Arizona recorded the largest increase, rising by 0.2 percentage points.
Overall, nearly all stages of delinquency remain near historically low levels in February, meaning that most Americans with a mortgage are able to make their payments on time. In February 2024, only four states posted year-over-year increases in overall delinquency rates, while eight states were unchanged. Alaska posted the largest annual decline at 0.4 percentage points and Arizona had the largest gain at 0.2 points.
Fifty-six U.S. metro areas experienced year-over-year increases in overall delinquency rates. Only three metros reported an annual increase in serious delinquency rates.
The Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina metro area in Hawaii saw the largest overall year-over-year delinquency rate increase, up by 1.6 percentage points. The overall rate rose by 0.4 points in Hinesville, Georgia, and New Orleans.
Among metros reporting serious delinquency increases from February 2023, Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, Hawaii, was up by 1.6 percentage points. It was followed by Carson City, Nevada (up 0.2 points) and Hinesville, Georgia (up 0.1 points).
