Mortgage delinquencies spike in Manatee-Sarasota. Blame Hurricane Irma

The percentage of homeowners in the Manatee-Sarasota region and across Florida who were late making their mortgage payments increased significantly in September.

Blame Hurricane Irma.

According to the latest Loan Performance Insights report from data provider CoreLogic, 4.9 percent of mortgages in the two-county area were delinquent by at least 30 days in September, compared to 4.2 percent a year earlier. In August, before Irma made landfall as a Category 4 storm in the Florida Keys, 3.4 percent of area homeowners were 30 or more days late with their payments.

The numbers were similar around the state: 7.5 percent of mortgages were delinquent in September, up from 6.3 percent a year ago and 5.3 percent a month earlier.

Across the country, the early-stage delinquency rate increased by 0.3 percent from a year ago in September, the largest increase since June 2009.

“This does not reflect a deterioration in credit, but rather the impact of the hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico,” Frank Nothaft, CoreLogic’s chief economist, said in Tuesday’s report.

Nothaft also said that the early-stage delinquency transition rate in September rose to 3.2 percent across Florida, much lower than in New Orleans in September 2005, when the rate reached 17.4 percent after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.

Despite Irma’s impact locally and across the state in September, the number of homes in foreclosure in the Manatee-Sarasota area came in at less than 1 percent for the seventh consecutive month, thanks to housing prices that continue to climb and historically low unemployment rates.

Only 0.6 percent of homeowners went into foreclosure in September, down from 1.2 percent a year ago and 0.8 percent a month earlier.

Across Florida it was 0.8 percent, down 0.6 percent year-over-year and 0.3 percent month-over-month.

Meanwhile, the number of area homeowners who were seriously delinquent in September — at least 90 days late — dropped to 1.7 percent, down from 2.4 percent a year earlier.

“While natural hazard risk was elevated in 2017, the economic fundamentals that drive mortgage credit performance are the best in two decades,” CoreLogic president at CEO Frank Martell said. “The combination of strong job growth, low unemployment rates, steady economic performance and prudent underwriting has led to continued improvement in mortgage performance heading into next year.”

This story was originally published December 12, 2017 at 11:44 AM with the headline "Mortgage delinquencies spike in Manatee-Sarasota. Blame Hurricane Irma."