Mortgage Default Rates Fall Almost 30 Percent From Year Ago

Mortgage default rates, as tracked by the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices, on first mortgages were at .92 in May 2014, down from 1.01 the month before and down almost 30% (29.7%) from May 2013 when the first mortgage default rate index was at 1.31.  The default rate index on second mortgages is improving as well with the index for May 2014 at .57, down from .63 in April and from .60 in May 2013, according to the report.

This is good news for the housing market and consistent with the trend we have seen lately of lower delinquencies and fewer defaults which lead to fewer foreclosures and fewer REO’s, all of which put downward, or negative, pressure on home prices.