Seasonal and Calendar Factors Drive Rise in November Delinquencies

ICE Mortgage Technology, a neutral provider of a robust end-to-end mortgage platform and part of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), today released the November 2025 ICE First Look at mortgage delinquency, foreclosure and prepayment trends.

“While the topline delinquency numbers show a sharp increase, we’ve seen comparable spikes in prior years when November ended on a Sunday and scheduled payments didn’t post until early December,” said Andy Walden, Head of Mortgage and Housing Market Research at ICE. “Overall performance was in line with what historical patterns would suggest. That said, December data will be important to watch to confirm how quickly borrowers recover from this temporary uptick.”

Key takeaways from this month’s findings include:

• Delinquencies rose: The number of past-due mortgages rose by 275,000 from October to 2.3 million in November, pushing the national delinquency rate to 3.85% — the highest level in over four years.

• Inflow of newly delinquent borrowers: 609,000 borrowers who were current on payments in October became delinquent in November, marking the largest single-month inflow since May 2020. Rolls from 30- to 60-day and 60- to 90-day delinquency bands also increased sharply.

• Delinquencies aligned with historical calendar effects: November’s delinquency rate increase was in line with prior years when the month ended on a Sunday, which last occurred in 2014 (+61 bps), 2008 (+112 bps), and 2003 (+57 bps) — all of which exceeded this year’s 50 basis point increase.

• Prepayments declined: After reaching a 3.5-year high in October, prepayment activity retreated in November, falling 18% month over month.

• Foreclosure activity mixed: Foreclosure activity dipped in November due to seasonal and calendar effects. However, foreclosure starts (+25%), sales (+25%) and active foreclosure volumes (+21%) all remain well above last year’s levels.

Data as of November 30, 2025
Total U.S. loan delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure): 3.85%
Month-over-month change: 15.00%
Year-over-year change: 2.79%

Total U.S. foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate: 0.41%
Month-over-month change: 0.27%
Year-over-year change: 20.56%

Total U.S. foreclosure starts: 26,000
Month-over-month change -31.50%
Year-over-year change: 24.77%

Monthly prepayment rate (SMM): 0.83%
Month-over-month change: -17.95%
Year-over-year change: 30.55%

Foreclosure sales: 6,700
Month-over-month change: -13.87%