CFPB Hunts Down Mortgage Delinquencies With New Online Tool

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has launched a new online tool that tracks mortgage delinquencies nationwide.

In addition to national data, the Mortgage Performance Trends tool features interactive charts and graphs. Currently, the tool shows that national mortgage delinquency rates are at their lowest point since the financial crisis.

“Measuring the number of consumers who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments is a telling barometer of the health of mortgage markets locally and nationally,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “This rich information source identifies mortgage delinquency rates down to the county and metro-area level, making it a useful public tool.”

The tool measures the delinquency rates in two general categories. The first is comprised of borrowers who are 30 to 89 days behind on their mortgage payments by one or two payments; the second category consists of serious delinquencies, which includes borrowers who are more than 90 days overdue.

The tool’s interactive charts and maps track monthly changes in both categories of loan delinquency rates starting in 2008, when the financial crisis was unfolding. According to the data, the national rate of seriously delinquent mortgages peaked at 4.9 percent in 2010. As of March 2017, the rate had fallen to 1.1 percent, the lowest level since 2008. Colorado and Alaska have the fewest serious delinquencies, with 0.5 percent. New Jersey and Mississippi have the highest rates of delinquencies of more than 90 days, with 2.1 percent. For mortgages that are delinquent by fewer than 90 days, Mississippi has the highest rate at 4.3 percent, while Washington State has the lowest rate, at 1 percent.

Information in the Mortgage Performance Trends tool comes from the National Mortgage Database, which the CFPB and the Federal Housing Finance Agency launched in 2012.