The January 2026 ICE First Look at mortgage delinquency, foreclosure, and prepayment trends was issued today by Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.
“Mortgage performance held steady to start the year, with fewer early-stage delinquencies helping bring the national delinquency rate down,” said Andy Walden, Head of Mortgage and Housing Market Research at ICE. “At the same time, late-stage delinquencies and foreclosure volumes are both trending higher than they were a year ago. The data points to a market that remains resilient overall with most borrowers performing well while a subset faces increased payment pressure.”
Data as of January 31, 2026
- Total U.S. loan delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure): 3.65%
- Month-over-month (MoM) change: -0.93%
- Year-over-year (YoY) change: 5.04%
- Total U.S. foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate: 0.46%
- MoM change: 6.78%
- YoY change: 22.38%
- Total U.S. foreclosure starts: 42,000
- MoM change 6.47%
- YoY change: 4.77%
Overall, January’s national delinquency rate decreased by 3 basis points (bps) to 3.65%, and it is still 15 bps below the January 2020 pre-pandemic baseline. The overall improvement in delinquency figures was driven by early-stage delinquencies: from December to January, there were 54,000 fewer borrowers who were 30 or 60 days behind on their mortgage payments.
Combined significant delinquency and foreclosure volumes rose: Although earlier stage delinquencies decreased, there are currently over 850,000 borrowers who are 90 days or more past due or in active foreclosure, up 104,000 from the same period last year and the highest number since July 2022.
Foreclosure sales increased by 28% and there were 42,000 foreclosure starts in January, the highest monthly number since early 2020 and up 5% year-over-year. Prepayments also decreased: After rising over the previous three months, the single month mortality (SMM) rate, which measures prepayments, fell 19 basis points to 0.72%. Home sales and refinancing activity decreased in January as a result of an increase in interest rates in December.
To read the full report, click here.
