The overall quality of first-lien mortgages serviced by large national and federal savings banks improved from the same period a year ago but showed seasonal decline from the prior quarter, according to a report released by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
The OCC Mortgage Metrics Report for the second quarter showed the percentage of mortgages that were current and performing at the end of the quarter was 88.7%, compared with 88.9% in the prior quarter and 88.1% a year earlier. The percentage of mortgages that were 30 to 59 days past due was 2.8%, up 12.1% from the prior quarter but down 7.5% from a year ago.Â
Seriously delinquent mortgages fell to their lowest level in three years: 4.4%, down 0.8% from the prior quarter and 9.2% from a year earlier.
The OCC also reports that servicers implemented 416,036 new home retention actions during the quarter, while starting 302,636 new foreclosures. The number of home retention actions implemented by servicers increased 17.9% from the prior quarter, but decreased 8.8% from a year earlier.
The OCC attributes several factors to the year-over-year improvement, including strengthening economic conditions, servicing transfers, and the ongoing effects of both home retention loan modification programs as well as home forfeiture actions.