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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have completed 4,398,274 total foreclosure prevention actions as of November 2019, according to the most recent Foreclosure Prevention Refinance and FPM Report November 2019 from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). In November alone, Fannie and Freddie completed 8,156 foreclosure prevention actions.
There were 4,851 permanent loan modifications in November, bringing the total to 2,384,609 since the conservatorships began in September 2008. Twenty-eight percent of modifications in November were modifications with principal forbearance. Modifications with extend-term only accounted for 63 percent of all loan modifications during the month.
The serious delinquency rate decreased slightly from 0.65 percent at the end of October to 0.64% at the end of November. According to Black Knight there are now 2.05M loans in some stage of delinquency, including active foreclosures down 236K from the same time last year and the lowest year-end volume since the turn of the century. The strongest declines were primarily in the east and southern portions of the country and in areas heavily impacted by the 2017 and 2018 hurricane seasons.
Southern states including Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Arkansas held some of the largest volumes of non-current loans in the country. As of December 2019, Mississippi holds the highest volume at 9.99%, though this is a month-over-month decline from November’s 10.44%, and a 0.93% decline year-over-year.
The FHFA's report also covers refinance activity. Total refinance volume decreased in November 2019 as mortgage rates rose in previous months but remained near lows last observed in 2015. Mortgage rates increased in November: the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 3.70% from 3.69% in October.
The percentage of cash-out refinances increased to 40% in November but remained well below the peak observed in late 2018. Mortgage rates have fallen from the highs observed a year ago to lows last observed in 2015, creating more opportunities for non cash-out borrowers to refinance at lower rates and lower their monthly payments.
