Housing in America is getting healthier, according to a new report from Black Knight Financial Services (BKFS), a Fidelity National Financial (FNF) company.
Black Knight released its “first look” at the housing data from April, and the report shows that many indicators are trending in a positive direction for the health of housing.
The report showed that foreclosure starts were down 22% from March to April, falling to a level of 73,500. That total is also down 7% from a year ago.
Additionally, national inventory of loans in foreclosure continued its decline toward pre-crisis norms, falling roughly 25.5% from last April to 1.51%, the lowest it’s been since January of 2008.
Black Knight notes that there was a slight seasonal increase in April delinquencies, up by 1.46%, which pushed the national rate up to 4.77%. That’s still low by post-crisis historical standards, and down 15.04% from last year at this time, Black Knight said in the report.
The number of properties that are 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure, increased 35,000 from March’s total to 2.415 million, but that figure is still down by 406,000 from last April.
The number of properties that are 90 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure, fell by 19,000 in April to 952,000, which is down by 235,000 from last year at this time.
The number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory fell 18,000 in April to 764,000. That figure is down 252,000 from one year ago.
The number of properties that are 30 or more days past due or in foreclosure rose in April by 17,000 to 3.179 million, but that figure is still down 658,000 from last year.
Each of the top five states by percentage of non-current loans also saw its total of non-current loans decrease in April. Mississippi now stands at 12.63% of non-current loans in the state, which is down 8.51% year-over-year.
New Jersey now stands at 10.75% of non-current loans in the state, which is down 16.46% year-over-year.
Louisiana now stands at 9.79% of non-current loans in the state, which is down 8.91% year-over-year, while New York now stands at 9.22% of non-current loans in the state, which is down 16.21% year-over-year.
And Maine now stands at 9.06% of non-current loans in the state, which is down 14.63% year-over-year.
According to Black Knight’s report, prepayment rates declined from March’s total, falling about 15% month-over-month, but Black Knight noted that the prepayment rates were still up 60% from this time last year.
