The national mortgage delinquency rate rose by 7 basis points (bps) in February to 3.72%, driven by a 4% seasonal rise in early (30-day) delinquencies and a 3% rise in seriously delinquent (90-plus day) loans.
According to data from Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE), the delinquency rate is up 20 bps from the same time last year but remains 12 bps below its February 2020 pre-pandemic benchmark.
At the end of January, 878,000 loans were in a state of severe delinquency or foreclosure, an increase of 175,000 (25%) over the past four months. This marked both the highest since June 2022 and the highest since June 2018 when excluding the immediate effect of the pandemic. FHA loans account for roughly 80% of the recent increase.
A total of 35,000 foreclosure starts were recorded last month, down 16% from January but up 7% from February 2025. Foreclosure sales declined 13% in the month but rose 25% year-over-year. The share of loans in active foreclosure remains 6 bps below pre-pandemic levels, though it rose by 4% in February and is up 25% from a year ago.
The single-month mortality rate, a measure of prepayment speed, increased by 10 bps in February to 0.82% and was up 80% from the same time last year. The uptick follows a refinance wave driven by January rate drops.
“February saw a clear rebound in prepayment activity, with speeds rising 14% month over month and 80% year over year as the wave of refinances triggered by lower rates in January reached closing,” said Andy Walden, head of mortgage and housing market research at ICE. “Delinquencies also edged higher, driven by seasonal increases in early-stage delinquencies and a notable rise in seriously past-due loans, though overall delinquency rates remain below pre-pandemic levels. These dynamics bear watching in the coming months, as default activity continues to trend off recent record lows.”
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