Cure activity supported that story. ICE reported 547,000 cures in March, up 27% from February, including a strong rebound among loans that have been 90 or more days delinquent.
New delinquency inflows fell 23% on a seasonal basis, and transitions into 60‑ and 90‑day buckets improved.
Despite that, foreclosure starts rose to 39,000, up nearly 10% from February and about 17% year over year. Active foreclosure inventory reached 273,000 – the highest level since February 2020.
Prepayment speeds, measured by the single monthly mortality rate, climbed to 1.06% in March, up 24 basis points from February and roughly 78% above the same month a year earlier.
Stress also remained uneven across states. Mississippi (8.01%) and Louisiana (7.95%) posted the highest non‑current and serious‑delinquency shares, while states such as Hawaii (2.24%), Colorado (2.20%) and Idaho (2.11%) sat at the bottom of the non‑current rankings and showed some of the largest year‑over‑year improvements.