Mortgage delinquencies are rising as homeownership costs pile up
Rising
property
taxes,
insurance
payments
and
growing
delinquencies
are
eroding
the
promise
of
long-term
stability
in
homeownership,
according
to
a
new
blog
from
Cotality.
The
post
revealed
that
across
the
country,
more
people
are
starting
to
fall
behind
on
their
mortgages
due
to
the
post-purchase
costs.
These
include
property
taxes
and
homeowners
insurance,
both
of
which
are
rising
faster
than
many
homeowners
can
keep
up
with.
Cotality
data
from
2025
shows
that
while
serious
mortgage
delinquencies,
defined
as
homeowners
who
are
90
days
or
more
past
due
on
a
payment,
fell
steadily
for
more
than
three
years,
the
trend
reversed
in
mid-2024.
The
top
three
states
with
the
highest
year-over-year
changes
in
their
serious
delinquency
rates
are
Florida,
South
Carolina
and
Georgia,
each
of
which
have
faced
not
only
an
uptick
in
delinquencies
but
also
natural
disasters
and
rising
insurance
costs.
In
Florida,
property
taxes
jumped
nearly
50%
over
five
years.
Insurance
costs,
especially
in
areas
at
risk
of
hurricanes
and
floods,
also
climbed.
As
a
result,
the
average
escrow
payment,
which
typically
covers
taxes
and
insurance,
rose
62%
in
the
past
five
years.
Nationally,
property
tax
bills
are
15.4%
higher
than
before
the
pandemic.
In
South
Carolina,
14
insurers
ran
out
of
funds
between
2020
and
2023,
resulting
in
elevated
premiums.
Georgia
saw
property
taxes
jump
more
than
$700
on
average
in
just
five
years.
Median
home
prices
are
still
below
the
national
average
in
Georgia,
but
the
gap
is
rapidly
closing
as
prices
there
jumped
65%
between
2019
and
2024.
While
serious
delinquencies
are
a
category
that
should
raise
alarms,
there
are
other
signs
that
more
Americans
are
slipping
behind
on
payments.
In
the
first
quarter
of
2025,
the
average
national
property
tax
delinquency
rate
—
meaning
that
homeowners
were
at
least
one
month
behind
on
payments
—
was
at
its
highest
point
since
2018.
More
than
half
of
the
states
with
the
highest
rates
of
property
tax
delinquency
also
had
unemployment
rates
above
the
national
average.
Mississippi,
which
has
the
highest
overall
property
tax
delinquency
rate,
also
has
the
lowest
median
household
income
and
is
among
the
top
15
states
at
risk
of
storm
surge
damage
from
hurricanes,
according
to
Cotality.
But
not
all
loans
are
built
the
same
in
these
scenarios.
Government-backed
loans
like
those
from
the
Federal
Housing
Administration
(FHA)
and
the
U.S.
Department
of
Veterans
Affairs
(VA)
come
with
tighter
margins.
Cotality’s
data
shows
that
serious
delinquency
rates
for
FHA
loans
are
five
times
higher
than
for
conventional
mortgages.
Serious
delinquencies
for
VA
loans
are
3.5
times
higher
than
conventional
alternatives.
