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""Fannie Mae"":http://www.fanniemae.com/portal/index.html and ""Freddie Mac"":http://www.freddiemac.com/ completed nearly 2.3 million foreclosure prevention actions by from the start of their conservatorship to the end of March 2012, according to FHFA's ""Foreclosure Prevention Report"":http://www.fhfa.gov/webfiles/24011/1q12_fpr061512.pdf for first-quarter 2012.
[IMAGE]The report, released Friday, showed that over 1.9 million of the foreclosure prevention actions undertaken by the GSEs-including 1.1 million permanent loan modifications-have helped borrowers keep their homes.
Moreover, half of borrowers who received loan modifications in Q1 2012 had their monthly payments reduced by more than 30 percent, with one third of those including principal forbearance. Performance of modified loans is also strong, with less than 15 percent of loans modified in Q2 2011 missing two or more payments.
In other modification news, both Enterprises found that loans modified through HAMP performed better after modification than non-HAMP modified loans. Nine months after modification, the rate of 60-plus day delinquent loans modified through HAMP was up to 15 percentage points lower than the same rate for non-HAMP modifications.
FHFA also reported that mortgage performance continued to improve in the first quarter of 2012 as early stage (between 30-89 days) and serious delinquency rates declined. The percentage of loans 30-59 days delinquent fell from 2.11 in Q4 2011 to 1.72 percent in Q1 2012, while loans 60-plus days delinquent fell from 4.46 percent to 4.15 percent. The percentage of seriously delinquent (90-plus days) loans dropped from 3.78 percent to 3.61 percent.
Foreclosure starts in 2012's first quarter increased for the first time since Q3 2010, moving up to 226,000 from 218,000 in the previous quarter. Third-party and foreclosure sales fell slightly between quarters from 80,000 to approximately 79,000.
REO inventory declined from 72,014 to 71,505 as property dispositions increased (77,104 from 75,163) and acquisitions decreased (173,464 from 179,063) in the first quarter.
According to the report, more than half of seriously delinquent borrowers had missed more than a year of mortgage payments. The number of loans 365-plus days delinquent in Florida actually exceeded the total of every other state except California. The top five states ranked by percentage of the Enterprises' single-family mortgages more than one year delinquent are Florida, New Jersey, Georgia, New York, and Maine.
