Baton Rouge’s mortgage delinquency rate in July was 3.1 percentage points higher than the national average, though it’s improving from last year as the overall U.S. mortgage delinquency rate dropped to a 12-year low, according to research by global property information provider CoreLogic.
Baton Rouge had 7.2% of mortgages in some stage of delinquency in July, down from 7.8% during the same month a year previous. Nationally, 4.1% of mortgages were delinquent, down from 4.7% a year prior.
For the purposes of the study, “some stage of delinquency” indicates mortgages that are 30 days or more past due, including those in foreclosure. “Serious delinquency rates” are mortgages that are 90 days or more past due.
Of Baton Rouge’s July mortgage delinquencies, 2.7% were defined as serious, and the city had a 0.8% foreclosure rate. These rates were slightly better than July 2017, when Baton Rouge had a serious delinquency rate of 3.5% and foreclosure rate of 0.9%.
Louisiana, meanwhile, had the second-highest delinquency rate in the nation, at 7.1%, trailing only Mississippi, at 8%. It also had the fourth-highest serious delinquency rate, at 2.7%, and its 0.7% foreclosure rate was among the top 10 states.
Regardless, the overall U.S. mortgage delinquency rate is the lowest it has been since before the 2008 housing crisis. Florida and Texas were the only states to post annual gains in serious delinquency rates.
