The seasonally adjusted delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties during the fourth quarter of 2025 was 4.26% of all loans outstanding, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. This marked a 27 basis points increase from the third quarter of and a 28 basis points from one year earlier.
The percentage of loans on which foreclosure actions were started in the fourth quarter remained unchanged at 0.20%.
On a quarter-over-quarter measurement, the 30-day delinquency rate decreased 5 basis points to 2.07%, the 60-day delinquency rate increased 16 basis points to 0.92%, and the 90-day delinquency bucket increased 16 basis points to 1.27%.
The five states with the largest quarterly increases in their overall delinquency rate were: Mississippi (109 basis points), Louisiana (89 basis points), Maryland (87 basis points), Oklahoma (86 basis points), and Indiana (86 basis points).
“Mortgage delinquencies increased across all three major loan types – Conventional, FHA, and VA – in the last three months of the year,” said Marina Walsh, MBA’s vice president of industry analysis. “The most pronounced uptick was with FHA loans, which reached a delinquency rate of 11.52%, the highest level since the second quarter of 2021. While earlier-stage FHA delinquencies remained relatively flat compared to the previous quarter, later-stage, 90-plus day delinquencies increased by 76 basis points. The FHA foreclosure inventory rate also grew to the highest level since the first quarter of 2020.”
Walsh added, “The fourth quarter results may have been impacted by the expiration of pandemic-era, FHA relief options as well as disparities in the labor market – a key determinant of mortgage delinquency levels.” She also observed that serious delinquencies vary by year of origination. For FHA loans, the vintage years 2020 and 2021 are performing better than the vintage years 2022 and 2023, when mortgage rates rose and affordability was especially stretched.
