While delinquencies remain low overall, the number of delinquent loans ticked up in November, according to the latest ICE Mortgage Monitor report. Furthermore, the delinquency rate among FHA loans is at a nine-year high, and will be worth watching closely in 2024, the report said.

The national delinquency rate climbed to 3.39% in November, which is up 13 basis points from October and down 10 basis points from November 2022.

In November, serious delinquencies (90+ days past due) rose month over month, adding 12,000 additional borrowers in that category for 459,000 people in total. However, the rate of serious delinquencies remained 21% below the November 2022 level. 

Meanwhile, early-stage delinquencies (30 and 60 days past due) continued to increase. In November, 70,000 additional borrowers were 30 days or more late on their mortgage payments, amounting to 1,804,000 loans. Moreover, early-stage delinquencies among VA loans hit their highest non-pandemic levels since 2009.

Foreclosure starts decreased by 12.2% in November to 29,000 with active foreclosure inventory falling to 216,000, some 23% and 24% below 2019 levels respectively

The five states with the worst mortgage performance were Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Indiana and Arkansas. At the other end of the spectrum, California, Idaho, Washington, Montana and Colorado were the states that showed the best mortgage performance.