Mortgage Delinquency Rates See Sharp Rise Following Hurricanes
The Black Knight Mortgage Monitor report for October shows that delinquency rates have risen for the second consecutive month, with hurricane season accounting for 10 percent of all total delinquencies, according to Inman.
The report shows that the national delinquency rate is directly linked to hurricane season. While delinquencies rose in states like Florida and Texas, they fell in non-affected areas for the month of October.
The most notable increase in delinquent mortgages was in Florida, where delinquencies rose from 36 percent in hurricane-affected areas compared with September 2017. Black Knight’s data shows that Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey caused more than 229,000 past-due mortgages in total, with 163,000 delinquencies for Hurricane Irma and 66,000 delinquencies for Hurricane Harvey.
Despite grim statistics for homeowners in these areas, Black Knight found that the inventory of loans in active foreclosure fell below 350,000 (or 0.68 percent) for the first time since 2006. Moreover, prepayment activity was up 17 percent in October compared with September.