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MortgagePoint ยป Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 58 December 2025 J O U R N A L credit score harm, and even foreclosure. WalletHub analyzed proprietary user data from Q1 to Q2 2025 to deter- mine the cities with the highest rates of mortgage delinquency, as well as those where borrowers are staying current. "The rate of mortgage delinquency varies significantly from city to city, ranging from around 3% to nearly 24%. The bad news is that while people in some cities are having much more difficulty paying their mortgages than others, the problem as a whole is also getting worse this year. In fact, the mort- gage delinquency rate actually increased in all but 13 of the 100 cities in our study between Q1 2025 and Q2 2025," Wal- letHub Analyst Chip Lupo said. Laredo, Texas, Tops the List for Delinquencies The city with the most people delin- quent on their mortgage is Laredo, Texas, with roughly 24% of mortgages in delin- quent status as of Q2 2025. WalletHub said it is significantly higher than the de- linquency rate in other major cities, with no other city in its study topping 19%. On top of that, WalletHub said that Laredo residents' delinquency rate is going up. Despite already being the highest in the nation, Laredo experi- enced a nearly 6% increase between Q1 2025 and Q2 2025. WalletHub said nearly all major cities experienced increases during the same period. Laredo has a high number of residents in financial distress. Laredo is one of the weakest cities when it comes to residents' money management skills, WalletHub said. Ranking second is Detroit, Mich- igan, with almost 19% of mortgages delinquent as of Q2 2025. That's a high number, but it's around 5% below the delinquency rate in Laredo. WalletHub said that, in general, Detroit has a serious delinquency prob- lem even outside of mortgages. It ranks third among the cities where people are the most delinquent on all types of debt combined. As was the case in most major cities, WalletHub said Detroit's mortgage delinquency rate rose between Q1 2025 and Q2 2025, rising by 11%. Newark, New Jersey, has the third-highest mortgage delinquency rate. Its residents are delinquent on close to 17% of their mortgages, just slightly behind second-place Detroit. WalletHub said one contributing factor to Newark's high delinquency rate is that it ranks fourth among the cities in which people are most delinquent on debt in general. Newark also had an increase in the delinquency rate between Q1 2025 and Q2 2025, with an increase of more than 9%. WalletHub said that to determine the cities where most people are delin- quent on mortgage loans, it analyzed its proprietary user data on consumer mortgage delinquency rates between Q1 2025 and Q2 2025. ICE FIRST LOOK: MORTGAGE PREPAYMENTS HIT 3.5-YEAR HIGH T he pool of refinance candidates expanded in October and drove mortgage repayments upward, according to ICE Mortgage Technology in its just-released ICE First Look at mortgage delinquency, foreclosure, and prepayment trends. ICE is a neutral provider of a robust end-to-end mortgage platform and part of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE). "Softening mortgage rates expand- ed the pool of refinance candidates in October, pushing prepayments to their highest level in three and a half years," said Andy Walden, Head of Mortgage and Housing Market Research at ICE. "This trend was largely driven by people who purchased homes at elevated rates in recent years seizing the opportunity to lower their monthly payments." Walden added: "Overall mortgage health remains solid, with continued improvement in delinquency rates across all stages. While foreclosure activity has ticked up, levels remain his- torically low. This uptick is driven by a rise in FHA foreclosures along with the resumption in VA foreclosures following last year's moratorium." October Delinquencies Improve; Loans in Foreclosure Highest Since 2023 Here are key takeaways from the ICE report: 1. Delinquencies improved: ICE said the national delinquency rate fell by 7 basis points (bps) in October to 3.34%. That is down 11 bps from the same time last year and 53 bps below the October 2019 pre-pandemic benchmark. 2. Broad strength in delinquency rates: Performance improved across the board, ICE reported, with both early-stage (30-day) and late-stage (90+ day) delinquencies declining during October. 3. Prepayments reached a multi- year high: ICE reported that the single-month mortality (SMM) rate, which tracks prepayments, rose by 27 bps in October to 1.01%. That marks the highest level in 3.5 years and an increase of 16 bps from last year when interest rates were at similar levels. 4. Foreclosure activity trending up- ward: Although October foreclosure starts slowed by 9.8% from the prior month, the overall trend continues to rise. ICE reported that foreclosure inventory is up by 37,000 (+19%) year over year, and foreclosure sales have increased by 1,900 (+32%) from last year's levels. 5. Government loans driving fore- closure growth: While foreclosure activity remains muted by historical standards, ICE said the number of loans in active foreclosure hit its highest level since early 2023, driven by a notable rise in FHA foreclosures (+50% YoY) along with a resumption of VA activity after last year's moratorium.