Mortgage delinquencies steady in September, but there’s ‘signs of stress beneath the surface’

U.S. mortgage delinquencies held steady at 3% in September 2025, unchanged from a year earlier but up slightly from 2.9% at the end of the second quarter, according to Cotality‘s newest Loan Performance Indicators report released on Tuesday.

“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,” Molly Boesel, senior principal economist at Cotality, said in a statement.

“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,” she added. “This is particularly evident at the metro level, where the share of areas with rising overall delinquencies declined from 70% in September 2024 to 48% in September 2025.

“Yet, the share with increasing foreclosure rates jumped from 8% to 39% over the same period. These trends suggest growing challenges for borrowers once they become delinquent.”

September 2025 delinquency rates break down as follows:

• Early-stage (30 to 59 days past due): 1.6%, unchanged from September 2024
• Adverse (60 to 89 days past due): 0.5%, unchanged
• Serious (90-plus days past due, including foreclosures): 1%, up from 0.9%

The transition rate, which measures loans moving from current to 30 days past due, fell to 0.7%, down from 0.8% a year earlier.

In September 2025, 18 states saw year-over-year increases in overall mortgage delinquencies, led by Arizona, Nevada and Georgia, each up 0.2 percentage points. Other states saw changes between -0.2 and 0.1 points.

Among the 384 metro areas analyzed, 186 posted higher overall delinquency rates, with Odessa, Texas, up 1.3 points and San Angelo, Texas, up 1 point.

Serious delinquencies rose in 174 metros, led by San Angelo and Odessa; Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida; Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida; and Lima, Ohio.