New Jersey still holds the highest rate of foreclosures, with one in 605 properties in some stage of foreclosure in 2018, according to RealtyTrac. 
This represents 1.61% of housing units with a foreclosure filing in the Garden State. Bank repossessions hit an 11-year high in 2017, against a national average of an 11-year low repossession level at an 11-year low, on average across the U.S.
The National Average Hits an 11-Year Low
The Mortgage Bankers Association reported:
“The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties fell to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 4.63 percent of all loans outstanding at the end of the first quarter of 2018.
The delinquency rate was down 54 basis points from the previous quarter, and was eight basis points lower than one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency Survey. The percentage of loans on which foreclosure actions were started during the first quarter was 0.28 percent, up three basis points from the last quarter, but down two basis points from one year ago.
“Mortgage delinquencies decreased from the previous quarter across all loan types – conventional, VA, and in particular, FHA – as the effects of the September hurricanes dissipated,” according to Marina Walsh, MBA’s Vice President of Industry Analysis.
“The strong economy, low unemployment rate, tax refunds and bonuses and home price appreciation were key factors that helped push delinquencies down in the first quarter. Of course, there are offsetting factors that may put upward pressure on delinquency rates in future quarters, including: a difficult recovery for some borrowers in hurricane-impacted states; the aging of loan portfolios; higher interest rates that limit a borrower’s rate-term refinance options; higher energy prices; stretching of housing affordability given limited supply; and the easing of credit overlays as mortgage market conditions have changed.”
Key findings of MBA’s Quarterly National Delinquency Survey include:
- The FHA delinquency rate declined by 136 basis points over the previous quarter – the largest single-quarter decline reported for the National Delinquency Survey data series. The conventional and VA delinquency rates declined by 41 basis points and 17 basis points respectively from the previous quarter.
- On a year-over-year basis, the overall mortgage delinquency rate increased by 93 basis points for FHA loans, dropped by 26 basis points for conventional loans, and increased 42 basis points for VA loans.
- Mortgage delinquencies dropped across all stages of delinquency in the first quarter of 2018 compared to the fourth quarter of 2017. The 30-day delinquency dropped 27 basis points from the previous quarter, while the 60-day and 90-day delinquency buckets dropped by 9 and 18 basis points respectively.
- The delinquency rate includes loans that are at least one payment past due but does not include loans in the process of foreclosure. The percentage of loans in the foreclosure process at the end of the first quarter was 1.16 percent, down 3 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2017 and 23 basis points lower than one year ago. This was the lowest foreclosure inventory rate since the third quarter of 2006. In addition to the strong economy and increasing home equity levels, extended storm-related foreclosure moratoria continue to play a factor in keeping foreclosure inventory at historic lows.
- The serious delinquency rate, the percentage of loans that are 90 days or more past due or in the process of foreclosure, was 2.61 percent in the first quarter of 2018, a decrease of 30 basis points from last quarter, and a decrease of 15 basis points from last year.”