The share of mortgages nationwide that are in some stage of delinquency has remained relatively stable, but there are signs of stress among borrowers, according to a recent report by Cotality.
Cotality this week released its latest Loan Performance Indicators, which analyzes mortgage delinquencies nationally and across major metropolitan areas. The report said that in September, the share of mortgages in some stage of delinquency (30 or more days past due, including foreclosures) was 3%, which Cotality said was unchanged from 2024.
Delinquencies, however, rose slightly from 2.9% in the second quarter of 2025.
“The national delinquency rate has remained relatively stable over the past year and quarter. It is still up from the record lows seen in mid-2024. Even so, delinquencies remain low by historical standards, at just a quarter of the peak levels experienced during the Great Financial Crisis,” said Molly Boesel, Senior Principal Economist at Cotality. “However, we’re seeing signs of stress beneath the surface and some indication that borrowers who fall behind are struggling to catch up, progressing into later stages of delinquency. This is particularly evident at the metro level, where the share of areas with rising overall delinquencies declined from 70 percent in September 2024 to 48 percent in September 2025. Yet, the share with increasing foreclosure rates jumped from 8 percent to 39 percent over the same period. These trends suggest growing challenges for borrowers once they become delinquent.”
U.S. Foreclosure Inventory is Unchanged Year Over Year
Cotality said that despite concerns that borrowers could struggle to become current after falling into delinquency, the U.S. foreclosure inventory rate was unchanged year over year at 0.3% in September 2025 and near the historical low of 0.2%.
Cotality said that in September, the U.S. delinquency and transition rates and their year-over-year changes were:
Early-Stage Delinquencies (30 to 59 days past due): 1.6%, unchanged from 1.6% in September 2024.
Adverse Delinquency (60 to 89 days past due): 0.5%, unchanged from September 2024.
Serious Delinquency (90 days or more past due, including loans in foreclosure): 1%, an increase from 0.9% in September 2024. The serious delinquency rate has been moving in a narrow range of 0.9% to 1.0% since June 2024.
Transition Rate (the share of mortgages that transitioned from current to 30 days past due): 0.7%, down from 0.8% in September 2024.
State and Metro Takeaways
According to Cotality, in September, 18 states logged year-over-year increases in their overall delinquency rate. The states with the highest increases were Arizona, Nevada, and Georgia which were all up 0.2 percentage points. All other states had changes ranging between -0.2 and 0.1 percentage points, Cotality said.
In September, 186 out of 384 U.S. metropolitan areas posted an annual increase in their overall delinquency rate, Cotality said. The top areas include: Odessa, Texas (up 1.3 percentage points); San Angelo, Texas (up 1 percentage point); Farmington, New Mexico, and Jonesboro, Arkansas (both up 0.8 percentage points).
The firm said that all other year-over-year changes ranged between -0.8 and 0.7 percentage points.
Cotality also said that in September, 174 metros posted an annual increase in their serious delinquency rate. The top areas include San Angelo, Texas (up 0.5 percentage points); Odessa, Texas; Lakeland-Winter Haven and Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida; and Lima, Ohio (all up 0.4 percentage points).
All other year-over-year changes ranged between -0.7 and 0.3 percentage points, Cotality said.
The post Cotality Examines National Mortgage Delinquency Rate first appeared on The MortgagePoint.
