WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd May, 2020) The US mortgage delinquency rate marked the biggest one-month increase on record in April, as job loses from the novel coronavirus pandemic hammered finances of households, a report by the mortgage data provider Black Knight said on Thursday.
"At 6.45 percent, the national delinquency rate nearly doubled (+3.06 percent) from March, the largest single-month increase ever recorded, and nearly three times the previous single-month record set back in late 2008," the report said.
Also in April, lenders began foreclosure efforts at a record-low rate as pandemic-related moratoriums halted foreclosure activity throughout the United States. In addition, April sales of foreclosed homes were the lowest on record, the report added.
The $2 trillion CARES Act permits homeowners with federally backed mortgages to suspend monthly payments for up to a year.
While the provision does not apply to about half of US mortgages, which are not federally backed, lenders have promoted forbearance initiatives due to the pandemic, according to media reports.
The delinquency rate includes both homeowners past due on mortgage payments who are not in forbearance, as well as those in forbearance plans who did not make an April payment, the report said.
Delinquency increases were greatest in the US states of Nevada, New Jersey and New York, while Miami, Las Vegas and New York City topped the 100 largest metro areas.
