More than 6.3 million homeowners helped since conservatorship
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today released its fourth quarter 2021 Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance Report. The report shows that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) completed 153,793 foreclosure prevention actions during the quarter, raising the total number of homeowners who have been helped to 6,364,278 since the start of conservatorships in September 2008.
The report also shows that 46 percent of loan modifications completed in the fourth quarter reduced borrowers’ monthly payments by more than 20 percent. The number of refinances decreased slightly from 1.286 million in the third quarter to 1.266 million in the fourth quarter.
The Enterprises’ serious delinquency rate dropped from 1.55 percent to 1.19 percent at the end of the fourth quarter. This compares with 6.48 percent for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans, 3.82 percent for Veterans Affairs (VA) loans, and 2.83 percent for all loans (industry average).
Other highlights from the report include:
- Forbearance: The total number of loans in forbearance plans continued to trend downward since its peak in May 2020, but remained elevated through the fourth quarter of 2021 compared with pre-pandemic levels. As of December 31, 2021, there were 178,019 loans in forbearance, representing approximately 0.59 percent of the Enterprises’ single-family conventional book of business, down from 320,009 or 1.07 percent at the end of the third quarter.
- Mortgage Performance: The 60+ days delinquency rate dropped from 1.69 percent at the end of the third quarter to 1.34 percent at the end of the fourth quarter. The delinquency rates remained elevated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the forbearance programs offered to affected borrowers.
- Foreclosures: The number of foreclosure starts decreased 15 percent to 6,178, while third-party and foreclosure sales rose 27 percent to 3,213 in the fourth quarter.
- Real Estate Owned (REO) Activity & Inventory: The Enterprises’ REO inventory increased 10 percent from 8,001 in the third quarter to 8,781 in the fourth quarter, as REO acquisitions outpaced property dispositions. The total number of property acquisitions increased 29 percent to 1,751, while dispositions decreased 17 percent to 991 during the quarter.
FHFA’s quarterly foreclosure prevention and refinance reports include data on the Enterprises’ mortgage performance, delinquencies, and active forbearance plans, as well as forfeiture actions and refinances by state. The data included in these reports are also available on FHFA’s website as an interactive Borrower Assistance Map.
Download the Foreclosure Prevention, Refi & FPM Report – 4Q2021