Loss Mitigation

Fannie Mae earned a quarterly net income of $7.6 billion in Q4 and an annual net income of $17.2 billion throughout 2012. Both figures represent the largest quarterly and annual net incomes in the company's history. Fannie Mae credited last year's growth to improved credit results driven by a decline in serious delinquency rates, an increase in home prices, and higher sales prices on Fannie Mae-owned properties. For the full year, Fannie Mae paid $11.6 billion in dividends to Treasury under the senior preferred stock purchase agreement between the two organizations.

Since the foreclosure crisis, several studies have linked foreclosures to falling property values for neighboring homes. However, one researcher from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston recently set out to discover the impact of foreclosed properties on neighbors who aren't looking to sell their homes. The study found the likelihood of a neighbor complaining about a particular home doubles once a homeowner enters the foreclosure process. Once a property is in REO, the likelihood increases nine-fold, according to the study.

Industry leaders gathered in Las Colinas, Texas, Thursday for the Five Star Institute's 2013 REO and Short Sale Executive Summit to discuss issues and market conditions impacting the distressed asset space. A number of the nation's leading financial institutions and government agencies were represented at the event designed to facilitate open dialogue and collaboration for developing solutions to today's most pressing REO and short sale challenges.

Data from CoreLogic shows 54,000 homes were lost to foreclosure in February of this year, a 7 percent decline from January's downwardly revised 58,000. The data provider reported a steeper 19 percent year-over-year decrease for completed foreclosures. ""February's 54,000 completed foreclosures is the lowest level nationally since September 2007, with most major metropolitan areas experiencing improvements,"" said Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.

Foreclosure inventory seems to be making a comeback after experiencing steady declines following the national mortgage settlement, RealtyTrac revealed in a report Thursday. In the first quarter of 2013, the number of properties that were in the foreclosure process or bank-owned rose 9 percent year-over-year to 1.5 million, according to data from the online foreclosure marketplace. The most recent figure represents a 12 percent increase from the five-year low seen in May 2012. The report also found 35 percent of the homes in the foreclosure process were abandoned by the homeowner.

As of the end of December, 89.4 percent of mortgages were still current and performing, an increase from 88.6 percent in the third quarter and an improvement from 88 percent during the same quarter a year ago, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) reported. Servicers also began a fewer number of foreclosures after initiating 156,773 new foreclosures in Q4, the the lowest number since Q1 2008, which is when the OCC began the report. In addition, servicers helped borrowers remain in their homes by implementing more home retention actions than home forfeiture actions.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to administer foreclosure prevention efforts while experiencing declines in delinquencies, foreclosures, and REO inventories, according to a report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The GSEs enacted 541,219 foreclosure prevention actions in 2012, contributing to a total of 2.7 million foreclosure prevention efforts since the enterprises came under government conservatorship in 2008, according to the report. Over the year, delinquencies also fell by a substantial 14 percent with the FHFA reporting declines in every state except New Jersey and New York.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) introduced a new tool to help seriously delinquent borrowers avoid foreclosure. Starting July 1, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac servicers will lift loan modification barriers by offering eligible borrowers reduced payments without asking for financial or hardship documentation. Through the FHFA's Streamlined Modification Initiative, eligible borrowers who are 90 days to 24 months past due will receive a solicitation offer with a trial period plan that lasts for three months. The offer will include a dollar amount for a new mortgage.

The mortgaged delinquency rate in February slipped below 7 percent, according data from Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS). On Tuesday, LPS provided an early look at month-end mortgage performance data for February and found the delinquency rate is at 6.80 percent, down 3.16 percent from January's 7.03 percent and a decrease of 6.51 percent from February 2012. At the same time, the foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate averaged 3.38 percent, which represents a 0.98 percent month-over-month decline and a 19.58 percent decrease year-over-year.

In January, the number of homes still hidden in the shadows fell to 2.2 million, a 28 percent decrease from the January 2010 peak when an estimated three million housing units were in shadow inventory, data from CoreLogic revealed. The 2.2 million units represent a supply of nine months and a year-over-year decline of 18 percent from January 2012, CoreLogic reported. Seriously delinquent loans were the main drivers of shadow inventory, accounting for one million of the distressed properties yet to be released.