Smart Borrower Blog

Archive for February, 2019

Mortgage Delinquency Rate Falls to 18-Year Low

U.S. mortgage borrowers kept up with their payments so well in the 2018 fourth quarter that the national mortgage delinquency rate fell to an 18-year low, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The seasonally adjusted delinquency rate on mortgages for one-to-four unit residential properties decreased to 4.06% of all home loans, down from 4.47% in […]

Household Debt Tops Pre-Recession High

Americans owed $13.54 trillion in household debt as of the 2018 fourth quarter, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a 0.2% increase from the third quarter and the 18th straight quarterly gain. Total household debt has surpassed even the pre-recession peak of $12.68 trillion and is 21% higher than the […]

Serious Auto Loan Delinquencies Reach All-Time High

More Americans are seriously delinquent on their car payments than ever before, according to new data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a troubling sign amid a growing economy. Almost 7 million U.S. consumers are now behind on their auto loans by 90 days or more, the highest figure in the 19-year history […]

Mortgage Applications Fall Despite Interest Rate Drop

Mortgage application volume fell for the third consecutive week, even as interest rates took a dive, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA’s seasonally adjusted index saw mortgage application requests fall by 2.5% in the latest week and almost 10% from the previous year. Most of that decrease came from a 5% drop in […]