From Black Knight: Black Knight’s First Look: Prepayments Surge on Lower Interest Rates; Seasonal Delinquency Rate Improvement Remains Muted



• Prepayment activity increased by 28% month-over-month, the largest single-month increase in more than 2.5 years, in response to declining interest rates and the start of the homebuying season



• The national delinquency rate fell by 5.3% for the month, the smallest improvement for any March in six years in what is typically the strongest-performing month of the year



• March 2019 ended on a Sunday, which has historically led to an increase in delinquencies, and came on the heels of February’s atypical increase in delinquencies



• At 40,400 for the month, foreclosure starts were down 19.5 percent from January and edged close to September 2018’s 15-year low



• The month’s 39,700 foreclosure starts marked the lowest single-month volume in more than 18 years, while reduced outflow held active foreclosure inventory steady at 264,000



• Outstanding 90-day delinquencies have now fallen below 500,000 for the first time in more than 12 years

Black Knight: Percent Loans Delinquent and in Foreclosure Process Mar

2019 Feb

2019 Mar

2018 Mar

2017 Delinquent 3.65% 3.89% 3.73% 3.62% In Foreclosure 0.51% 0.51% 0.63% 0.88% Number of properties: Number of properties that are delinquent, but not in foreclosure: 1,903,000 2,019,000 1,912,000 1,831,000 Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory: 264,000 264,000 321,000 448,000 Total Properties 2,167,000 2,284,000 2,232,000 2,279,000

According to Black Knight's First Look report for March, the percent of loans delinquent decreased 5.3% in March compared to February, and decreased 2.0% year-over-year.The percent of loans in the foreclosure process decreased 0.2% in March and were down 18.8% over the last year.Black Knight reported the U.S. mortgage delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure) was 3.65% in March, down from 3.89% in February.The percent of loans in the foreclosure process decreased slightly in March to 0.51% from 0.51% in February.The number of delinquent properties, but not in foreclosure, is down 9,000 properties year-over-year, and the number of properties in the foreclosure process is down 57,000 properties year-over-year.