How many people are late on a mortgage?
3.35% of mortgages were delinquent by at least 30 days as of the second quarter of 2024, up from 2.56% as of the second quarter of 2023. 0.57% of mortgages were seriously delinquent (late by 90 days or more) as of the second quarter of 2024, up from 0.46% as of the same period in 2023.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the West Coast has the lowest share of mortgages more than 30 days delinquent, with Washington, Oregon, and California all reporting rates of delinquent mortgages under 1.5%.
Since then, with vaccines allowing people to work more safely and minimizing further disruption to business operations, the percentage of mortgage holders behind on payments has declined to about 7%—an improved figure, but one that still represents more than 6 million American households.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 8, 2024) – The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties increased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.88 percent of all loans outstanding at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) National Delinquency ...
A missed mortgage payment is reported to the credit bureaus once it's 30 days late, which means you're officially in default. This means a negative hit to your credit score. Your lender may contact you to remind you about a late payment at any time, but they are required by law to contact you if it is 36 days late.
0.57% of mortgages were seriously delinquent (late by 90 days or more) as of the second quarter of 2024, up from 0.46% as of the same period in 2023. While delinquencies have grown, they're still lower than at any point from the start of 2003 to the end of 2019, just before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
About five million U.S. households were estimated to be behind on their last month's mortgage repayment in June 2023. Homeowners between 40 and 54 years made up over 1.8 million households late on their payment. Second in rank were roughly 1.5 million homeowners between 25 and 39 years.
The latest data from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, released in January, found that a record high 22.4 million renter households — or half of renters nationwide — were spending more than 30% of their income on rent in 2022.
Today, seriously delinquent balances sit at just below 1%, a share that's hardly changed since their historic low point seen in the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to temporary mortgage forbearance and homeowner support programs. For now, home foreclosures remain historically low.
40% of Americans Pay Off Their House — Are They Doing Better Financially? For most Americans, a home mortgage is the biggest financial obligation they will ever have. A traditional mortgage spans 30 years and is often in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, so the interest charges can be enormous.
Are people falling behind on mortgage payments?
The number of Americans falling behind on their mortgage payments has risen in recent months, nearly climbing to rates last seen before the COVID-19 pandemic. Netspend analyzed data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to show the uptick in homeowners falling behind on their mortgage payments since 2021.
How much mortgage debt does the average American have? The average mortgage debt among Americans is $244,498, per Experian's 2023 State of Credit Report. That's up from the average mortgage debt reported by Experian in 2022: $232,545.
Key takeaways. If you miss one mortgage payment, lenders will often issue you a 15-day grace period to pay without incurring a penalty. If you miss four consecutive mortgage payments (or are 120 days late), most lenders begin the process of foreclosure on your home.
Once you're 120 days behind on your payments, the lender can start the foreclosure process if you haven't submitted a complete mortgage assistance application. Loan modification programs help distressed borrowers avoid foreclosure by permanently changing the terms of a loan.
The recovery time can also depend on the event. It may take a few months to recover from a hard inquiry, a few months (or years) to recover from a 30-day late payment, and much longer to recover from a 90-day late payment or other major negative mark (such as a foreclosure).
Being two months late is a clear indicator of financial distress; you may receive formal pre-foreclosure notices. While being two months late does not automatically lead to foreclosure, it is a significant red flag. Continued delinquency can lead to foreclosure proceedings if you cannot catch up on your payments.
With roughly 84 million mortgages active in the US, according to data from LendingTree, that would mean about 1092000 Americans are more than 60 days past due on their mortgages.
Though a noteworthy portion of adults who live in households behind on mortgage payments fear being foreclosed on in the near future, it's important to reiterate that only 3.71% of households nationwide aren't current on their housing payments.
Recent Trends in Delinquencies
Auto loan 30-day delinquency rates have risen considerably in recent years. Although they remain below the peak levels of the Great Recession, as of the end of 2023, auto loan delinquency rates exceeded pre-pandemic levels about 60 basis points.
A quick look online suggests that the average age by which people become mortgage free is 63.
How many Americans are behind on mortgage payments?
Today, seriously delinquent balances sit at just below 1%, a share that's hardly changed since their historic low point seen in the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to temporary mortgage forbearance and homeowner support programs. For now, home foreclosures remain historically low.
If you're more than 30 days late
Thirty days late is bad, but it's not as bad as 60, which is not as bad as 90. The sooner you can catch up, the less damage to your credit. When your account is current, you can contact the creditor or write a goodwill letter asking it to remove the negative mark.
A 2023 survey from Clever Real Estate found that 62% of homeowners sometimes struggled to make their mortgage payment on time. The national median mortgage payment hit $2,184 in February, up from $2,061 a year ago and $1,750 in February of 2022, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
The number of Americans falling behind on their mortgage payments has risen in recent months, nearly climbing to rates last seen before the COVID-19 pandemic. Netspend analyzed data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to show the uptick in homeowners falling behind on their mortgage payments since 2021.
Almost 40% of US homeowners own their homes outright as of 2022—many of them baby boomers who refinanced when rates were low.
