Mortgage delinquencies aren’t affected by inflation – yet

“The share of U.S. borrowers who are six months or more late on their mortgage payments fell to a two-year low in August and was less than one-third of the pandemic high recorded in February 2021,” said CoreLogic principal economist Molly Boesel.

The share of mortgages in some stage of the foreclosure process increased slightly from 0.2% to 0.3% year over year. Transition rate, or the percentage of loans that transitioned from current to 30 days past due, stayed unmoved at 0.6%.

“Furthermore, the foreclosure rate remained near an all-time low, which indicates that borrowers who were moving out of late-stage delinquencies found alternatives to defaulting on their mortgages,” Boesel added.

“The US unemployment rate has stayed below 4% since the beginning of 2022, and the still-healthy job market continues to help homeowners with a mortgage make payments on time,” CoreLogic noted in its report. “However, as the cost of basic necessities mounts with rising inflation, mortgage delinquencies could increase in the coming months as more borrowers see their monthly household budgets stretched further.”