Residential delinquency improved during the latest quarter, though serious delinquency deteriorated, according to an analysis of mortgage data from the country’s biggest banks.
Those were the findings of the OCC and OTS Mortgage Metrics Report, First Quarter 2009.
Data was analyzed from nine servicers, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, First Horizon, HSBC, National City, USBank, Wachovia, and Wells Fargo.
The report encompassed 34.0 million residential first mortgages for $6.003 trillion — around 64 percent of all U.S. first liens outstanding. Outstandings stood at 34.5 million loans for $6.106 trillion on Dec. 31, 2008, and 34.5 million loans for $6.063 trillion as of March 31, 2008.
Subprime loans — those with credit scores below 620 — represented 8 percent of first-quarter outstandings, while Alt-A financings — loans where the borrower had a credit score of at least 620 and no more than 659 — accounted for 10 percent. Prime share was a hair above two-thirds.
Delinquency of between 30 and 59 days fell to 2.8 percent from the fourth quarter’s 3.5 percent. The rate was 2.6 percent in the first-quarter 2008.
Including all loans delinquent at least 30 days or in foreclosure, the delinquency rate was approximately 10.3 percent, edging up from 10.1 percent three months prior. Late payments were 6.7 percent as of March 31, 2008.
Total delinquency on government mortgages was 14.0 percent as of March 31, improving from the prior quarter’s 15.9 percent but worse than the prior year’s 12.5 percent.
Serious delinquency of at least 60 days, excluding foreclosures, on all loans was 5.0 percent at the end of the most recent quarter, up from the fourth quarter’s 4.6 percent and the year earlier period’s 2.7 percent. Serious delinquency on government mortgages was 7.0 percent as of March’s end, while it was 16.7 percent on subprime loans and 10.0 percent on Alt-A mortgages.
The agencies said that recent servicer directives and enhancements to the Federal Housing Administration’s Hope for Homeowners program aren’t reflected in the current report.
New foreclosure filings climbed to 290,920 in the first quarter from 262,691 in the prior period. A year earlier, new filings were 280,161. Subprime foreclosures accounted for 64,628 of new foreclosures in the first quarter, and Alt-A filings accounted for 56,948.
Foreclosures were completed on 78,936 properties, falling from the previous quarter’s 89,634 but a bit higher than the prior year’s 76,548. The decline from the fourth quarter reflected various moratoria in place as the industry and government awaited the Obama administration’s Making Home Affordable initiative.
Completed first-quarter subprime foreclosures were 16,099, and foreclosures were completed on 15,244 Alt-A loans.
The foreclosure-in-process inventory ended March at 844,389, jumping from 693,423 three months earlier and nearly double the 489,119 one year earlier. The rate of foreclosures-in-process finished the first quarter at 2.5 percent, higher than the four-quarter 2008’s 2.0 percent and the first-quarter 2008’s 1.4 percent..
Subprime foreclosures in process ended March at 179,330, and the Alt-A inventory was 166,654.
Workouts finished the first quarter at 337,192, increasing from 296,534 in the fourth quarter and 202,625 a year earlier. Modifications represented 185,156 of the latest quarter’s workouts, jumping from 119,220 during the previous quarter and nearly tripling 68,001 in the first-quarter 2008. Payment plans were 152,036, lower than the fourth quarter’s 177,314 but up from 134,624 the previous year.
Related:
U.S. Modification Analysis
Federal bank regulators have released details about loan modification activity during the first quarter. Among the findings were a surge in the number of modifications completed, a high rate of re-defaults and better performance on modified loans that are owned by the servicers.
