HOPE NOW: May Mortgage Mod Actions Top 105,000

HOPE NOW yesterday reported member mortgage lenders and servicers provided more than 105,000 mortgage modifications and other actions in May.

HOPE NOW, a voluntary, private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers and non-profit counselors of which the Mortgage Bankers Association is a founding member, also said foreclosure sale activity fell to its lowest level this year, to 27,000.

HOPE NOW Executive Director Eric Selk said the four-to-one modification-to-foreclosure metric “shows the breadth of solutions available to at-risk homeowners and that these homeowners are likely to receive an alternative solution to foreclosure.”

The 105,000 actions included an estimated 29,000 permanent loan modifications, including modifications completed under both proprietary programs (22,000) and the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (7,113). The total represented a 7 percent decrease from April.

Other key metrics for May:
–Short sales: 6,200 vs. 6,300 in April, a decrease of 2 percent.
–Deed in-lieu: 1,700, unchanged from April.
–Foreclosure starts: 51,000 in May vs. 50,000 in April, an increase of 2 percent.
–Foreclosure sales: 27,000 vs. 28,000 in April, a decrease of 4 percent.
–Serious delinquencies: 1.62 million in May vs. 1.64 million in April, a decrease of 1 percent. Delinquency data are extrapolated from data received by the Mortgage Bankers Association for the first quarter.

Metrics compared to a year ago:
–Loan Modifications: 29,000 completed in May vs. 37,000 in May 201, a decrease of 22 percent.
–Short sales: 6,200 completed in May vs. 7,500 in May 2015, a decrease of 18 percent.
–Deed in-lieu: 1,700 completed in May, unchanged from a year ago.
–Foreclosure starts: 51,000 in May vs. 60,000 in May 2015, a decrease of 15 percent.
–Foreclosure sales: 27,000 in May vs. 29,000 in May 2015, a decrease of 7 percent.
–Serious delinquencies: 1.62 million in May vs. 1.82 million in May 2015, a decrease of 11 percent.

The full data set for May is available at www.hopenow.com.

“Though the overall market continues to experience a decreasing number of foreclosure starts and sells, some areas of the country remain affected by long and short term hardships,” Selk said.