WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 7, 2024) — The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties decreased slightly to a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.92 percent of all loans outstanding at the end of the third quarter of 2024 compared to one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers ...
Other states with high rates of missed payments include Alabama and Arkansas. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the West Coast has the lowest share of mortgages more than 30 days delinquent, with Washington, Oregon, and California all reporting rates of delinquent mortgages under 1.5%.
In September, 3% of all mortgages in the U.S. were in some stage of delinquency (30 days or more past due, including those in foreclosure), up 0.2% year over year from September 2023.
Mortgage payments increasingly late
In the second quarter of 2024, delinquent and seriously delinquent mortgage accounts had nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels. Despite that, the portion of homeowners at real risk of losing their homes due to the inability to make payments remains historically low.
Homeowners are struggling to afford their mortgages, and the problem is only getting worse, according to new data from Freddie Mac. Single-family serious delinquencies surged in September, while multi-family serious delinquencies also saw an uptick for mortgages.
Key takeaways. If you miss one mortgage payment, lenders will often issue you a 15-day grace period to pay without incurring a penalty. If you miss four consecutive mortgage payments (or are 120 days late), most lenders begin the process of foreclosure on your home.
40% of Americans Pay Off Their House — Are They Doing Better Financially? For most Americans, a home mortgage is the biggest financial obligation they will ever have. A traditional mortgage spans 30 years and is often in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, so the interest charges can be enormous.
On a year-over-year basis, total mortgage delinquencies increased for all loans outstanding. The delinquency rate increased 35 basis points for conventional loans, increased 165 basis points for FHA loans and increased 93 basis points for VA loans from the previous year.
For mortgages, while there has been a moderate rise in mortgage delinquencies, they remain below pre-pandemic levels. Mortgage delinquencies rose from 1.4% during Q3 2021 to 3.2% by Q1 2024. The pre-pandemic average mortgage delinquency rate was 3.5%.
With roughly 84 million mortgages active in the U.S., according to data from LendingTree, that would mean about 1,092,000 Americans are more than 60 days past due on their mortgages.
If you pay after your grace period, but before 30 days, you might be charged a late fee, but there's no credit impact. Once your payment is at least 30 days late, it's reported as late to the credit bureaus. This will lower your credit score and potentially have an impact on future mortgage qualification.
2021: The lowest 30-year mortgage rates ever
And it kept falling to a new record low of just 2.65% in January 2021. The average mortgage rate for that year was 2.96%. That year marked an incredibly appealing homeownership opportunity for first-time homebuyers to enter the housing market.
For at least 90 days, financial institutions will waive or refund at least the following for customers who have requested assistance: Mortgage-related late fees; and. Other fees, including early CD withdrawals (subject to applicable federal regulations).
Delinquency Rate: As of September 30, 2024, FHA's serious delinquency rate – those mortgages where the borrower is 90 or more days behind on their mortgage payment – remained consistent with pre-pandemic levels at 4.15 percent.
The number of Americans falling behind on their mortgage payments has risen in recent months, nearly climbing to rates last seen before the COVID-19 pandemic. Netspend analyzed data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to show the uptick in homeowners falling behind on their mortgage payments since 2021.
About five million U.S. households were estimated to be behind on their last month's mortgage repayment in June 2023. Homeowners between 40 and 54 years made up over 1.8 million households late on their payment. Second in rank were roughly 1.5 million homeowners between 25 and 39 years.
There is no specific age to pay off your mortgage, but a common rule of thumb is to be debt-free by your early to mid-60s.
Similarly, states along the Pacific Coast—where home values skyrocketed during the pandemic—have some of the lowest rates of free-and-clear homeownership among the working-age population. California (22.7%), Washington (22.8%), and Oregon (22.9%) sit at 45th, 44th, and 43rd out of all 50 states, respectively.
Average American Debt Load
That breaks down into $241,815 on average in mortgage debt, and an average of $23,317 in non-mortgage debt (including credit card, student loan, auto loan and personal loan debt). But these debt balances vary greatly depending on age group.
Negative Impact on Credit Score
For example, a single missed payment can lower your score by as much as 100 points or more, if your credit history is already less-than-stellar. Late mortgage payments can linger on your credit report for up to seven years, potentially years after you've already caught up.
Generally, the legal foreclosure process can't start until you are at least 120 days behind on your mortgage. After that, once your servicer begins the legal process, the amount of time you have until an actual foreclosure sale varies by state. If you are having trouble making your mortgage payments, act quickly.
The length of a mortgage payment grace period varies by lender but is usually around 15 days. 1 If your mortgage payment grace period is 15 days, then your mortgage payment would only be considered late after those 15 days.