October 16, 2012 (Shirley Allen)
Prepayment rates, a key indicator of refinance activity, showed a significant increase in August according to Lender Processing Services (LPS) Mortgage Monitor report for August with refinancing rates even surpassing those in the refinance waves in 2009 and 2010.
Prepayment activity not only increased among normal conforming loans with a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 80 percent or below, but there was also a 65 percent increase in loans with a LTV of 120 percent and above due to the impact of the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP).
Mortgage delinquencies declined for a second consecutive month in August, falling 2.3 percent from July while year-over-year, mortgage delinquencies have fallen by 10.6 percent.
The percentage of loans that were 30 days or more past due, but not yet in foreclosure, declined from 7.03 percent in July to 6.87 percent in August. The delinquency rate was 10.6 percent lower than what it was in August 2011.
The foreclosure inventory also continued to decrease in August to a total of 2.020 million properties, down from 2.042 million properties in July, a decline of 22,000 properties. The foreclosure inventory was 2.0 percent lower than a year ago.
The number of properties in the shadow inventory also declined, falling from 1.560 million properties in July to 1.520 million properties in August, a decrease of 40,000 properties.
The total number of properties that were either delinquent or in some stage of foreclosure declined from 5.562 million in July to 5.450 million in August.
Earlier highlights from LPS’s “First Look” report include:
Total U.S. loan delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure): 6.87% compared to 7.03% in July 2012
Month-over-month change in delinquency rate: -2.3% compared to -1.6% in July 2012
Year-over-year change in delinquency rate: -10.6% compared to -11.0% in July 2012
Total U.S foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate: 4.04% compared to 4.08% in July 2012
Month-over-month change in foreclosure presale inventory rate: -1.0% compared to -0.2% in July 2012
Year-over-year change in foreclosure presale inventory rate: -2.0% compared to -0.9% in July 2012
Number of properties that are 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure: (A) 3,430,000 compared to 3,520,000 in July 2012
Number of properties that are 90 or more days delinquent, but not in foreclosure: 1,520,000 compared to 1,560,000 in July 2012
Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory: (B) 2,020,000 compared to 2,042,000 in July 2012
Number of properties that are 30 or more days delinquent or in foreclosure: (A+B) 5,450,000 compared to 5,562,000 in July 2012
States with highest percentage of non-current* loans: FL, MS, NJ, NV, IL (FL, MS, NV, NJ, IL in July 2012)
States with the lowest percentage of non-current* loans: MT, AK, SD, WY, ND (MT, AK, WY, SD, ND in July 2012)
*Non-current totals combine foreclosures and delinquencies as a percent of active loans in that state.
Notes:
(1) Totals are extrapolated based on LPS Applied Analytics’ loan-level database of mortgage assets.
(2) All whole numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand.
Tags: LPS, mortgage delinquency rate, foreclosure inventory, non-current loans
Source:
LPS