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20 SERIOUS DELINQUENCIES ON THE DECLINE TransUnion's 2017 Consumer Credit Market Forecast spells good news for serious mortgage loan delinquency rates, with declines anticipated this year. "e mortgage market has improved dramatically, to a point where it has normalized on a delinquency basis. From an overall consumer credit standpoint, the mortgage marketplace also stands out from other loan types, with far more prime and above borrowers as a percentage of total accounts," said Nidhi Verma, Senior Director of Research and Consulting in TransUnion's Financial Services Business Unit. "is improved risk distribution, coupled with rising home values, has led to a significant decline in mortgage delinquencies." TransUnion anticipates mortgage loans will drop further. Likewise, the report added that mortgage delinquency rates have declined consecutively for 23 of the last 26 quarters since peaking at 7.21 percent in Q1 2010. "e mortgage market has seen steady improvements over the last several years, and we believe lower unemployment rates, growth in median household income, and rising home values will be the primary drivers for continued strong performance in this sector," said Joe Mellman, VP and Mortgage Business Leader for TransUnion. "e rate at which mortgage delinquencies are expected to decline is expected to slow primarily because the inventory of foreclosure properties has diminished significantly and overall credit performance is stabilizing, as the bulk of consumers recently entering the mortgage market have high credit scores and have met stringent underwriting criteria. e serious mortgage loan delinquency rate also has reached more historically 'normal' levels, hence further steep declines are unlikely." e report noted that a major driver of lower mortgage delinquency rates is the small composition of subprime borrowers who have a mortgage balance. Specifically, TransUnion found that of the 66.9 million consumers with a mortgage balance in Q 3 2016, only 8.5 percent were subprime borrowers—a decline from Q 3 2015 when 8.7 percent of the nearly 67.4 million consumers with a mortgage balance were subprime borrowers. "While increased interest rates will likely curtail refinancing activity materially and be a headwind for purchase mortgage affordability, we still see strong future purchase demand from prospective homebuyers," Mellman added. "In fact, we believe with improved economic conditions we could see nearly three million first-time homebuyers in 2017, which will prove to be quite beneficial to the industry." The best defense for a better neighborhood Real People, Real Results www.assero24.com/defense