Foreclosures mandated by the government-controlled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac jumped by 12% in the second quarter to 275,000 units, according to new figures released Friday.
The increase from 1Q shows that despite lower mortgage rates, a slowly improving job picture, and loan modification efforts by the industry and government, more Americans could be poised to lose their homes.
Still, according to the results -- which were compiled by the Federal Housing Finance Agency – there appears to be some bright spots in the foreclosure prevention picture.
FHFA says residential servicers completed 171,176 new loan modifications under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) during the second quarter, a 24% improvement from 1Q.
As of June 30, 224,570 permanent loan modifications have been completed by Fannie/Freddie servicers since the program's inception.
The agency says that more than half the modifications completed in 2Q will reduce a mortgagor's monthly payment by 30% or more.
FHFA found that mortgages modified during the first-half of the year are performing better than loans restructured in earlier periods. However, modified loans that were late by 30- to 59-days increased 19 basis points to 2.19% at June 30 compared to March 31.
But the serious delinquency rate on HAMP modified loans fell to 4.58% from 4.93% in 1Q.
