ICE says U.S. mortgage delinquencies edge up in May as foreclosure pressure builds

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US mortgage delinquencies May

Highlights

U.S. national mortgage delinquency rate rises 15 basis points in May to 3.50%, reflecting calendar effects rather than broad borrower distress, according to ICE.
Active foreclosure inventory climbs to 280,000 loans, up 34% year over year and marking a six-year high, while foreclosure starts drop 9% from April but remain 19% above last year.
Serious delinquencies and active foreclosures increase by 185,000 over the past year, with loans curing from serious delinquency falling 6% month over month in May and FHA cures lagging.

May data points to stable payments

As reported by Intercontinental Exchange, the national mortgage delinquency rate rises 15 basis points in May to 3.50%, with the company saying the move reflects a Sunday month-end that shifts some payments into the following business day rather than a wider deterioration in borrower performance.

ICE says overall delinquencies increase 4.5% from April, in line with historical month-end patterns, while remaining below January 2020 levels. Andy Walden, head of mortgage and housing market research at ICE, says the more important trend is the continued increase in serious delinquencies and active foreclosures.

Prepayment speeds also cool as mortgage rates rise. The single-month mortality rate falls 15% from April to 0.79%, a four-month low, although it remains 8 basis points above the level of a year earlier.

Foreclosure inventory and late-stage stress rise

Late-stage mortgage stress continues to build in the U.S. housing finance market. ICE says serious delinquencies, defined as loans 90 or more days past due but not yet in foreclosure, hold steady from April at 577,000 but stand 111,000 above year-earlier levels, the largest annual increase since 2020.

Active foreclosure inventory reaches 280,000 loans, up 34% from a year earlier and the highest level in six years, even though the foreclosure rate remains below pre-pandemic levels. Foreclosure starts decline 9% from April to 33,000, but they are still 19% higher than a year ago.

The number of loans that are seriously delinquent or already in active foreclosure increases by 185,000 from a year earlier, while cure activity weakens. Loans curing from serious delinquency fall 6% month over month in May, and ICE says volumes remain below late 2025 levels, with FHA cures continuing to lag the broader market. Bob Hart, president of mortgage technology at ICE, says the trend underscores the need for servicers to reach financially stressed borrowers earlier as loss mitigation volumes increase.

In our earlier article on the FTC’s 2025 fraud-loss data, we noted that reported consumer fraud losses kept rising, led by imposter scams that generated roughly 1 million reports and $3.5 billion in losses. We also highlighted growing vulnerability among older consumers and the increasing sophistication of scams, including the use of AI to make fraudulent messages harder to detect.

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