Mortgage servicers completed about 33,000 loan modifications in July – a decrease of 3% compared with 34,000 completed in June and a decrease of 12% compared with 38,000 in July 2014, according to estimates released by HOPE NOW, a voluntary, private-sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers and nonprofit counselors.
Of the 33,000 loan mods completed in July, about 23,000 were through proprietary programs, while 9,734 were completed via the government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).
Of the 23,000 proprietary modifications completed, about 66% (15,450) involved reducing the monthly principal and interest payment by 10% or more.
Altogether, servicers approved about 122,000 non-foreclosure solutions (including loan modifications, short sales, deeds-in-lieu and workout plans) for the month.
Meanwhile, there were about 29,000 foreclosure sales in July – a decrease of 3% compared with about 30,000 in June. Thus, non-foreclosure solutions continued to outpace foreclosure sales – which are a good indicator of completed foreclosures – by nearly a four-to-one ratio.
Additionally, foreclosure sales were down 26% compared with about 40,000 in July 2014.
There were about 8,100 short sales completed in July – a slight decrease compared with approximately 8,200 in June and a slight decrease from July 2014.
There were about 1,600 deeds-in-lieu, a decrease of 11% compared with about 1,600 in June and a decrease of 26% compared with about 2,500 in July 2014.
There were about 53,000 foreclosure starts in July – down about 9% compared with approximately 58,000 in June and down 25% compared with about 71,000 in July 2014.
Approximately 1.69 million properties were ‘seriously delinquent’ (90 days or more past due) in July – a decrease of 17% compared with June and a decrease of about 13% compared with July 2014.
‘At the end of June, the mortgage industry hit significant milestones for loan solutions and proprietary loan mods: 24 million and six million, respectively [since 2007],’ says Eric Selk, executive director of HOPE NOW, in a statement. ‘Based on July's data, it is clear that mortgage servicers continue to work with customers to offer the best options – whether they are permanent, short term or liquidation. In fact, looking at the year-over-year comparison, it is notable that the decline in foreclosure sales is more than double the decline in permanent loan mods.’