Mortgage Delinquency - St Louis Real Estate News

FHA Loans Face Higher Delinquency: What Homebuyers Should Know

By Dennis Norman, on August 5th, 2025

Mortgage debt across the U.S. has continued its steady climb, reaching nearly $13 trillion by mid-2025. While this growth might seem alarming, the current lending standards remain significantly stricter than those seen before the 2008 financial crisis, reducing overall risk.

Government-backed loans from agencies such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac account for over half of the total mortgage balances, offering stability to the market. However, loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), popular for their low down payment requirements, represent a disproportionate share of delinquencies. Although FHA loans make up just 12% of all mortgage Continue Reading →

March 2024 Mortgage Update: Serious Delinquencies Drop to Lowest Since Mid-2006

By Dennis Norman, on April 24th, 2024

According to the latest report from Intercontinental Exchange, the U.S. mortgage market showed promising signs of stability in March 2024. The national delinquency rate decreased to 3.20%, marking a modest drop from February but remaining slightly higher than the record low observed in March 2023. Notably, serious delinquencies, which track loans 90+ days past due but not in active foreclosure, decreased significantly. These serious delinquencies fell by 24,000 cases—a 5.2% reduction from February, reaching their lowest level since mid-2006. This improvement is particularly significant as it occurred during a month that historically sees fluctuations due to its conclusion on a Continue Reading →

Beware of Unjust Fees: Insights from the Latest CFPB Mortgage Report

By Dennis Norman, on April 24th, 2024

Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Spring 2024 report on mortgage servicing reveals critical issues that prospective and current homeowners should be aware of. The report highlights a troubling trend of unauthorized charges and deceptive practices in mortgage servicing, which could impact a homeowner’s financial stability and property rights. For instance, some services were found to be charging illegal property inspection fees, particularly on Fannie Mae loans, despite guidelines clearly prohibiting such fees when certain conditions are met. These unjust fees, ranging from $10 to $50, were imposed even when borrowers were actively engaging with their servicers, highlighting a significant Continue Reading →

COVID-19 Pandemic Driven Serious Mortgage Delinquencies To Highest Levels Since The Great Recession

By Dennis Norman, on March 4th, 2021

According to a report just released by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), titled “Housing insecurity and the COVID-19 pandemic“, there are over 2 million homeowners that have fallen behind at least three months on their mortgage payments. This represents a 250% increase from pre-Covid-19 levels and is now at a level we haven’t seen since the height of the Great Recession in 2010.

Homeowners with an FHA mortgage delinquency rates double rate for all loans:

As the chart below shows, homeowners with an FHA mortgage hit a serious mortgage delinquency rate of 10.8% during the 3rd quarter of 2020, Continue Reading →

Home Foreclosure Ban Extended Through End of June – Is this a ticking time bomb?

By Dennis Norman, on February 17th, 2021

President Joe Biden on Tuesday extended the ban on home foreclosures for federally backed mortgages until June 30, 2021. This is the second extension of the ban which was originally set to expire January 31, 2021, but then previously extended by President Biden to March 31, 2021.

Meanwhile, as the chart below shows, serious delinquencies on home mortgages have been on the rise since nearly the beginning of the pandemic almost a year ago. The ban on foreclosures is certainly a welcome relief to those struggling to make their house payments. However, with such a high delinquency rate one has Continue Reading →

Fannie Mae Offers Mortgage Payment Deferral Plans for Eligible Homeowners

By Dennis Norman, on March 29th, 2020

Fannie Mae, the leading source of financing for home mortgages in the U.S. (they purchase home loans from lenders), earlier this week announced some payment deferral plans to help borrowers. Fannie Mae is authorizing it’s loan servicers to provide options to borrowers that have fallen delinquent or are having trouble making their house payments, which is likely a result of the financial impact on them of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While it’s complicated, there are several options that Fannie Mae has made available to loan servicers to offer to borrowers that are struggling. Complete details are in Fannie Mae Lender Letter Continue Reading →

Why I’m Bullish On Real Estate For 2020

By Dennis Norman, on February 14th, 2020

As you may have noticed, I’ve been pretty optimistic about the outlook for the real estate market this year however, that is not always the case as I call it like I see it. The reason for my optimism is based upon what a true data geek like myself would base it upon, data! So, what’s the data that has me believing 2020 will be a good year for the housing market in St Louis and beyond? Several things:

As I have been reporting here for the past couple of years now, mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates have continued to Continue Reading →

In 2019 St Louis Had The 8th Highest Foreclosure Rate of The 20 Largest MSA’s

By Dennis Norman, on January 16th, 2020

Foreclosure rates and mortgage delinquency rates have steadily declined over the past couple of years as the housing market, as well as the overall economy, have both continued to improve and thrive. Nonetheless, foreclosures still take place and during 2019 the St Louis MSA had the 8th highest foreclosure rate of the 20 largest MSAs, according to the latest data released by Attom Data Solutions.

As the table below shows, during 2019, in the St Louis MSA there was 1 foreclosure action for every 232 housing units. Philadelphia, PA, had the highest foreclosure rate of the 20-largest MSAs with one Continue Reading →

Mortgage Delinquency Rate Hits Lowest Level 20 Years

By Dennis Norman, on December 10th, 2019

The good news just keeps coming for the residential real estate industry! The most recent is from a report just released by CoreLogic showing the mortgage delinquency rate in the U.S. was at 3.8%, the lowest rate in at least 20 years! In addition, not one state in the country had an increase in overall delinquency rates in September.

Foreclosure Inventory Reaches Low as well…

The foreclosure inventory rate for September was 0.4%, another 20+ year low!

Search St Louis Homes For Sale Search St Louis Upcoming OPEN HOUSES

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Continue Reading →

Mortgage Delinquency Rates Hit 14-Year Low In August

By Dennis Norman, on November 19th, 2019

In August, the overall mortgage delinquency rate (30 or more days past due) was 3.7% for the U.S. which is a 0.2 percentage point decline from a year ago and is the lowest overall delinquency rate in 14-years, according to date just released by CoreLogic. The delinquency rate for August of 3.7% marks the lowest delinquency rate during the month of August in 20 years. The serious delinquency rate (120+ days late) decline of 1.2% a year ago to just 1.0% in August 2019, nearly a record low. The Foreclosure Rate fell in August 2019 to 0.4% from 0.5% a Continue Reading →

Foreclosure Rate In St Louis Continues To Fall As Market Remains Strong

By Dennis Norman, on May 21st, 2019

The strong St Louis housing market, as well as the strong economy, continues to help improve mortgage delinquency rates and foreclosure rates in St Louis. The rate of foreclosure in St Louis in April was 1 foreclosure filing for every 2,167 housing units, a decline of 17.4% from the month before when the rate was 1 in every 1,865 housing units, according to the latest data from ATTOM Data Solutions. The April St Louis foreclosure rate was down 17.9% from the year before.

As the table below shows, over half the counties in the St Louis MSA saw an increase Continue Reading →

Mortgage Delinquency Rate Falls To Lowest Level In More Than 12 Years

By Dennis Norman, on November 20th, 2018

The overall mortgage delinquency rate in the U.S. fell in August to the lowest level in over 12 years, according to a report just released by CoreLogic. According to the report, 4.2% of all St Louis home mortgages were 30+ days delinquent in August 2018, a decline of over 14% from a year ago when the rate was 4.9%. During the same period, seriously delinquent mortgages, those that are 90+ days late, in St Louis dropped from 1.8% a year ago to 1.4% in August 2018, according to the report.

Search St Louis Homes For Sale Search St Louis Continue Reading →

Mortgage Delinquency Rates Continue to Improve-St Louis Distressed Home Sales Falling

By Dennis Norman, on September 18th, 2018

Mortgage delinquency rates, the precursor to foreclosures, continue to fall as the real estate market continues to perform well. The 30-plus day mortgage delinquency rate for June 2018 fell to 4.3% of all outstanding mortgages down from 4.6% a year ago, according to a report just released by CoreLogic. Frank Nothaft, the Chief Economist for CoreLogic, attributed the good news to “A solid labor market” going on to say that June’s national unemployment rate of 4% was “the lowest for June in 18 years“.

St Louis distressed home sales falling quickly…

With the economy and real estate market doing so Continue Reading →

House Flipping In St Louis Drops Twenty-Three Percent In 2nd Quarter

By Dennis Norman, on September 6th, 2018

House flipping, something that has become quite popular among investors over the past few years and has even spawned several reality TV shows, continues to decline in terms of the number of flips. This is certainly not due to a lack of interest but instead a lack of opportunities. Many flipping opportunities are the result of foreclosures and with the mortgage delinquency rates continuing to improve resulting in declining foreclosure rates, the end result is few opportunities for investors to flip homes.

In St Louis, during the 2nd quarter of 2018, there were 835 homes flipped in the St Louis Continue Reading →

House Flipping Volume In St Louis Down From Year Ago

By Dennis Norman, on June 7th, 2018

During the first quarter of this year, there were 600 home “flips” in St Louis or about 8.6% of the homes sold in St Louis, according to data just released by ATTOM Data Research. This rate of flipped homes is up 5% from the prior quarter, however, is down 7% from a year ago. The decline certainly doesn’t have anything to do with a lack of interest by investors in flipping, it has more to do with a low inventory and declining mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates reducing the opportunities.

What is a “flipped” home?

In the report issued by Continue Reading →

Home Mortgage Lending In Low and Moderate Income Areas On The Rise

By Dennis Norman, on November 3rd, 2017

There is little doubt that lower-income individuals and, subsequently, lower-income neighborhoods, were impacted more negatively by the housing market bubble burst in 2008 than other areas. This resulted in extremely high mortgage delinquency rates, high foreclosure rates, and declining home values. Afterward, citing “loose” lending standards, sub-prime mortgages, etc, the mortgage market tightened the reins on mortgage lending making it more difficult for everyone to get a loan, but particularly, those folks in the lower income brackets.

As time has passed, home loan requirements have eased and it is now easier to obtain a home loan. Some of the requirements Continue Reading →

St Louis Mortgage Delinquency Rate Continues To Fall

By Dennis Norman, on October 10th, 2017

On a national level, according to a report released by Corelogic, the foreclosure rate is at a 10-year low and, for the most part, mortgage delinquency rates continue to fall as real estate markets around the country continue to improve.

The state of Missouri, as well as it’s two big metro areas, St Louis and Kansas City, are following suit with improvements in mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates.

State of Missouri- Mortgage Delinquency/Foreclosure Rates: 30+ day mortgage delinquency rate improved from 5.3% of all mortgage loans a year ago to 4.5% for July 2017; 90+ day mortgage delinquency rate improved Continue Reading →

Mortgage Loan Delinquency Rates Hit Lowest Level Since 2000

By Dennis Norman, on June 14th, 2017

According to a report just released by Corelogic, the 30-59 day mortgage delinquency rate in March (the most recent month reported) fell to just 1.7%, the lowest level since January 2000. Continue Reading →

Foreclosure and Serious Delinquency Rates Continue to Decline in Missouri

By Dennis Norman, on May 10th, 2017

The foreclosure rate in Missouri continues to decline with the foreclosure rate for February 2017 coming in a 0.4 percent, according to a report just released by CoreLogic. The rate for February is down slightly from a year ago when the Missouri foreclosure rate was 0.5 percent. Based upon the mortgage serious delinquency rate (90 days or more) as well as delinquency rate (30 days or more), both lead-indicators or predictors of things to come with regard to foreclosures, the foreclosure rate will continue to decline in the near term. Continue Reading →

Mortgage Delinquency Rates Continue To Fall And Now Back To Normal

By Dennis Norman, on December 14th, 2016

Mortgage Delinquency rates, borrowers that are 60 or more days past due, are projected to be 2.21 percent for the 4th quarter of 2016, down from 2.46% the quarter before and marking the 13th consecutive quarter mortgage delinquency rates have fallen, according to a report just released by TransUnion. According to the report, mortgage delinquency rates peaked at 7.21 percent during the 1st quarter of 2010 and have declined for 23 of the last 26 quarters since. TransUnion considers the current mortgage delinquency rate to be normal and is projecting the delinquency rate will fall even further next year down to 2.11% by the end of 2017. Continue Reading →

Home Loan Delinquencies Continue To Decline-May Lead To Easing Requirements

By Dennis Norman, on November 17th, 2015

According to a report just released by TransUnion, the mortgage delinquency rate for borrowers that are 60 days or more delinquent, declined almost 30 percent during the 3rd quarter of 2015 from a year ago. During the third quarter of this year, the mortgage delinquency rate was 2.40%, down from 3.36% during the third quarter of 2014. Continue Reading →

St Louis Mortgage Delinquency and Foreclosure Rates Drop To Lowest Level in Years

By Dennis Norman, on July 28th, 2015

For the month of May, 2015, less than 3 percent (2.95%) of St Louis mortgages were seriously delinquent (90+ days) marking a slight decline from the month before and a decline of 13 percent from a year ago, according to data just released by CoreLogic. Continue Reading →

Mortgage Delinquency Rates Drop To Pre-Bubble Level

By Dennis Norman, on May 18th, 2015

The mortgage delinquency rate (home owners that are 60 days or more delinquent on mortgage payment) dropped to 2.95 percent in the first quarter of 2015, marking the first time the mortgage delinquency rate has been below 3 percent since the 3rd quarter of 2007 when the rate was 2.61 percent, according to a report released this morning by TransUnion. Continue Reading →

Mortgage Delinquencies Drop 14 Percent in Past Year- More Non-Prime Borrowers Getting Home Loans

By Dennis Norman, on February 18th, 2015

Mortgage Delinquencies (borrowers that are 60 days or more late on their house payment) declined in the 4th quarter of 2014 marking the 12th consecutive quarter of declines in the mortgage delinquency rate, according to data just released by TrasnUnion. As the table below shows, the mortgage delinquency rate for the 4th quarter of last year was 3.29%, a decline of 2.1% from the quarter before and a decline of 14.5% from the 4th quarter of 2013.

Foreclosures and better borrowers are the reason…

Ezra Becker, vice president of research and consulting at TrasnUnion, said the improvement in mortgage delinquencies Continue Reading →

Seriously Delinquent Mortgage Rate Falls to Lowest Level In Six Years

By Dennis Norman, on February 13th, 2015

The seriously delinquent mortgage rate (90+ days late) fell to 1.91 percent of all outstanding mortgages in November, the lowest level since December 2008, according to a report just released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Continue Reading →

St Louis Ranked Seventh In Number of Completed Foreclosures In 2014

By Dennis Norman, on February 10th, 2015

St Louis had 6,215 completed foreclosures in 2014 putting it 7th on the list of metros in the U.S. in terms of the number of completed foreclosures. As the table below, which lists the 25 top metro areas for foreclosures, shows, Tampa saw the most foreclosures with over 18,000 being completed during 2014, according to newly released data from Corelogic.

According to the Corelogic report, there were 563,294 completed foreclosures in the U.S. during 2014, the lowest total for any 12 month period since November 2007 when it was 589,570.

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Congress Passes Extension of Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act

By Dennis Norman, on December 17th, 2014

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate passed H.R. 5771, the “Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014”, which had been passed by U.S. House of Representatives on December 3, 2014 and is now headed to President Obama’s desk for his approval. Assuming President Obama signs the act into law, it will be good news for homeowners that sold their homes in a short sale in 2014 or in some other way was forgiven on mortgage debt during this year. The Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 extends the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 through December 31, 2014 and makes it retroactive to January 1, 2014 so there is no gap in coverage from when the last extension expired. Continue Reading →

Mortgage Delinquency Rate Forecasted To Drop To Pre-Bubble Rates Next Year

By Dennis Norman, on December 10th, 2014

The Mortgage Delinquency Rate, the pre-cursor to, and leading indicator of, foreclosures, which play havoc with home prices, is expected to decline to 3.12 percent by the end of this month and continue to decline next year hitting 2.51 percent by the end of 2015, according to a forecast just released by TransUnion. If mortgage delinquency rates fall as lowest as forecast, it will hit the lowest level since the housing bubble burst. A home mortgage that is 60 days or more delinquent is counted in the mortgage delinquency rate for this report by TransUnion.

The report goes on to Continue Reading →

Will The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 Be Extended?

By Dennis Norman, on November 20th, 2014

UPDATE December 17, 2014 – Congress has passed an extension of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 through December 31, 2014 – It is part of a bill that has been sent to President Obama for his approval. This falls short of the two year extension the National Association of REALTORS (NAR), among other groups, was pushing for which would have covered next year as well, but is at least some relief for those affected this year.

The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 provided relief for homeowners that receive forgiveness on some of their mortgage debt Continue Reading →

St Louis Foreclosures & Serious Delinquencies Fall In Past Year

By Dennis Norman, on September 30th, 2014

The St Louis Foreclosure rate in July 2014 was 0.78 percent, down almost 30 percent from the same time last year when the St Louis foreclosure rate was 1.08 percent, according to data just released by Corelogic. The foreclosure rate for the state of Missouri in July 2014 was .64%, down from .89% a year ago.

On another good note, the serious mortgage delinquency rate (90+ days) for St Louis in July 2014 was 3.33%, down from 3.85% in July 2013. On the state level, the Missouri serious mortgage delinquency rate for July 2014 was 3.06% down from 3.52% the Continue Reading →