The U.S. mortgage delinquency rate declined to 3.39% in July, down from 4.56% in June, according to data from Intercontinental Exchange Inc. The measure remains 3.69 percentage points above its July 2025 level but sits below the pre-pandemic July 2019 rate of 3.55%.
Serious delinquencies—loans 90 or more days past due but not yet in foreclosure—fell for a fifth consecutive month, totaling 563,000 properties. That figure is down 7,000 from June but up 97,000 from a year earlier. New defaults, defined as borrowers entering 90-plus-day delinquency status, decreased 4% year-over-year to 102,000 in July, with Federal Housing Administration loans recording a 13% drop in new defaults compared with July 2025. Cures from serious delinquency rose 7% to 64,100, the highest since October 2025.
Foreclosure activity accelerated, with starts reaching 40,000 in July, a 22.84% increase from the prior year. The active foreclosure inventory climbed 42% annually to 296,000 properties, while completed foreclosure sales totaled 7,900, up 14.18% year-over-year. Despite the rise, foreclosure volumes remain 59% below pre-pandemic levels.
Prepayment speeds slowed for the fourth consecutive month, with the single-month mortality rate easing to 0.74%, the lowest since January. The rate remains 11.04% above year-ago levels.
State-level data showed Louisiana with the highest non-current mortgage rate at 8.20%, while Idaho reported the lowest at 1.93%. The figures are based on loan-level analysis from ICE’s mortgage performance database.
