Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed 1,746 foreclosure prevention actions in April 2019, according to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) [1] Foreclosure Prevention, Refinance, and Federal Property Manager's Report. The report states that the GSEs have completed 4,334,550 since the start of conservatorship in September 2008.
Additionally, there were 7,657 permanent loan modifications in April, bringing the total to 2,343,704 since the conservatorships began in September 2008. The serious delinquency rate decreased slightly from 0.71% at the end of March to 0.69% at the end of April, and foreclosure starts decreased from 11,238 in March to 10,320 in April. Third-party and foreclosure sales decreased from 3,527 in March to 3,398 in April. The FHFA’s report also notes that there were 530 short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure completed in April, up 5% compared with March.
In the first quarter of 2019 [2], Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed 38,968 foreclosure prevention actions, bringing the total number of foreclosure prevention actions to 4,322,804 since September 2008. Of the over four million foreclosure prevention actions taken by the GSEs, the FHFA notes that actions, 3,629,411 have helped troubled homeowners stay in their homes, including 2,336,047 permanent loan modifications. Additionally, around 38% of loan modifications completed in Q1 reduced borrowers' monthly payments by more than 20%.
HFA’s report also includes total numbers of home forfeiture actions. According to the report, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed 1,542 short sales and deeds in lieu in the first quarter, bringing the total to 693,393 since conservatorship began.
“The number of completed short sales and deeds in lieu decreased 13% in the first quarter compared with the fourth quarter of 2018,” the FHFA states. “These foreclosure alternatives help to reduce the severity of losses resulting from a borrower’s default and minimize the impact of foreclosures on borrowers, communities, and neighborhoods.”