The OCC & OTC have issued a report on mortgages. These are some astounding numbers on just how many homeowners are in big trouble:
The report, based on data from loan servicing companies that manage 64 percent of all first-lien U.S. mortgages, shows:
- The number of loan modifications significantly increased. During the quarter, servicers implemented 185,156 new loan modifications, up 55 percent from the previous quarter and 172 percent from the first quarter of 2008.
- The proportion of payment-reducing modifications also increased. More than half of the modifications in the first quarter of 2009 resulted in lower monthly principal and interest payments, as servicers focused on achieving more sustainable mortgage payments. Modifications that reduced monthly payments by 20 percent or more jumped 19 percent from the previous quarter, to 29 percent of all modifications. By contrast, actions that resulted in increased payments constituted only 19 percent of modifications, a drop of 25 percent from the previous quarter.
- Modifications that reduce payments have lower delinquency rates over time. Although delinquencies on modified loans increased each month following modification, delinquency rates were considerably lower for mortgages in which monthly payments were reduced. Six months after modification, only 24 percent of the mortgages that had monthly payments reduced by 20 percent or more were 60 or more days past due, compared with 54 percent of mortgages with monthly payments left unchanged, and 50 percent with higher monthly payments.
- Seriously delinquent mortgages increased. Seriously delinquent mortgages (60 or more days past due or involving delinquent bankrupt borrowers) increased as economic pressures continued to weigh on homeowners. Prime mortgages, which represented two-thirds of all mortgages in the portfolio, had the highest percentage increase in serious delinquencies, climbing by more than 20 percent from the prior quarter to 2.9 percent of all prime mortgages.
- Foreclosures in process increased. Foreclosures in process also increased during the quarter to 844,389, or about 2.5 percent of all serviced loans, as moratoriums on foreclosures expired during the first quarter. This increase represented a 22 percent jump from the previous quarter and a 73 percent rise from the first quarter of 2008.
More from Bloomberg, Delinquencies Double on Least-Risky Loans:
First-time foreclosure filings on the loans rose 22 percent from the fourth quarter
I'm wondering if any of these D.C. cats get it that in order to pay the mortgage ya have to have a stable job?
Gets more interesting.
From the Wall Street Journal blogs:
Mid-to-high end home price declines could generate some mixed signals over the coming months. If prices fall low enough to attract new buyers, that could generate more sales of higher-priced homes that lead to increases in median prices. But those median price gains won’t necessarily mean that housing is out of the woods.
I still think we should have addressed
this mortgage crisis right at the source from the beginning instead bailing out the financial oligarchy. Oh well.
As for the housing market there is still too much inventory. The way I am measuring whether we are making progress is if someone can sell their home (non-distressed sale) and make enough on the sale to pay-off existing mortgage and have a little for a down payment on a new home. This is not happening.
RebelCapitalist.com - Financial Information for the Rest of Us.
me 2
Well, all we can do is to continue to examine what's going on and pipe up.
But we sure did blog our brains out on the saving of the financial oligarchy, as have many others. So did some members of Congress, with Rep. Peter Defazio literally saying this is bullshit on the house floor.
The problem is there really are just a few key people who control the power in Congress. "Leadership" is assuredly cronyism that never gets examined much, but what a pecking order! Someone gets democratically (ahem) elected and walks into some boys club from hell in terms of seniority and influence (versus competence!).