Black Knight’s First Look: Early-Stage Mortgage Delinquencies Rise on Calendar Effect; Prepayments Slow as Spring Homebuying Season Falters on High Rates, Low Inventory

• The national delinquency rate spiked 13% higher in April from March’s record low, with the month ending on a Sunday impacting the processing of payments made on the last calendar day of the month
• Early-stage delinquencies (borrowers 30 days late) bore the brunt of the rise, increasing by 200K (+25%) which matches the impact of previous similar calendar-related events
• Serious delinquencies (90+ days past due) continued to improve nationally, with the number of such loans shrinking in 45 states (90%) plus the District of Columbia in April
• Foreclosure starts fell 23% to 25K for the month – the lowest since September 2022 – and 45% below April 2019’s pre-pandemic level
• Foreclosure actions were started on 4.9% of serious delinquencies in April, down slightly from March and still more than four percentage points below the monthly average prior to the pandemic
• Active foreclosure inventory declined by 6K in the month, and is down 60K or 21% from March 2020
• March saw 6,400 foreclosure sales (completions) nationally, down 14% from the month prior
• Prepayment activity (SMM) fell to 0.44% – giving back some of the previous month’s gain and suggesting the spring homebuying season is faltering on high rates and low inventory – remaining 59% off last April’s levels

Black Knight, Inc. (NYSE: BKI) reports the following “first look” at April 2023 month-end mortgage performance statistics derived from its loan-level database representing the majority of the national mortgage market.

Total U.S. loan delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure): 3.31%
Month-over-month change: 13.32%
Year-over-year change: 2.11%

Total U.S. foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate: 0.44%
Month-over-month change: -2.60%
Year-over-year change: 4.90%

Total U.S. foreclosure starts: 25,000        
Month-over-month change: -22.81%
Year-over-year change: -32.16%

Monthly prepayment rate (SMM): 0.44%
Month-over-month change: -12.56%
Year-over-year change: -58.63%

Foreclosure sales: 6,400
Month-over-month change: -13.99%
Year-over-year change: 14.33%

Number of properties that are 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure: 1,746,000
Month-over-month change: 207,000
Year-over-year change: 61,000

Number of properties that are 90 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure: 502,000
Month-over-month change: -10,000
Year-over-year change: -251,000

Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory: 234,000
Month-over-month change: -6,000
Year-over-year change: 14,000

Number of properties that are 30 or more days past due or in foreclosure: 1,980,000
Month-over-month change: 201,000
Year-over-year change: 75,000

Top 5 States by Non-Current* Percentage
Mississippi:                       7.61%
Louisiana:                         7.24%
Alabama:                          5.70%
West Virginia                    5.14%
Pennsylvania:                   5.05%

Bottom 5 States by Non-Current* Percentage
Oregon:                            2.22%
Montana:                          2.19%
Idaho:                               2.16%
Washington:                     2.04%
Colorado:                         2.02%

Top 5 States by 90+ Days Delinquent Percentage
Mississippi:                      2.23%
Louisiana:                        1.91%
Alabama:                         1.59%
Arkansas:                        1.39%
Georgia:                          1.28%

Top 5 States by 12-Month Change in Non-Current* Percentage
Alaska:                            -17.61%
Vermont:                         -14.42%
Connecticut:                    -10.33%
Hawaii:                            -9.21%
New York:                        -8.46%

Bottom 5 States by 12-Month Change in Non-Current* Percentage
Idaho:                             19.05%
South Dakota:                13.84%
Utah:                              13.52%
Arizona:                          11.47%
Michigan:                       10.01%

*Non-current totals combine foreclosures and delinquencies as a percent of active loans in that state.

Notes:

1. Totals are extrapolated based on Black Knight’s loan-level database of mortgage assets.
2. All whole numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand, except foreclosure starts and sales, which are rounded to the nearest hundred.

The company will provide a more in-depth review of this data in its monthly Mortgage Monitor report, which includes an analysis of data supplemented by detailed charts and graphs that reflect trend and point-in-time observations. The Mortgage Monitor report will be available online at https://www.blackknightinc.com/data-reports/ by June 5, 2023.

For more information about gaining access to Black Knight’s loan-level database, please send an email to Mortgage.Monitor@bkfs.com.

About Black Knight

Black Knight, Inc. (NYSE: BKI) is an award-winning software, data and analytics company that drives innovation in the mortgage lending and servicing and real estate industries, as well as the capital and secondary markets. Businesses leverage our robust, integrated solutions across the entire homeownership life cycle to help retain existing customers, gain new customers, mitigate risk and operate more effectively.

Our clients rely on our proven, comprehensive, scalable products and our unwavering commitment to delivering superior client support to achieve their strategic goals and better serving their customers. For more information on Black Knight, please visit www.blackknightinc.com/.

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