For four consecutive years now, mortgage servicers have completed fewer loan modifications than they did in the previous year.
During just December, there were 36,639 loan modifications completed, HOPE NOW reported.
The total reflects modifications completed through proprietary programs and through the Home Affordable Modification Program.
Loan modification activity increased from the previous month, with servicers completing 9 percent more modifications in December
than in November.
But activity slowed by 16 percent compared to December 2013.
December 2014’s total included 25,914 loans that were modified through proprietary programs — more than the prior month’s 22,569 modifications completed.
But proprietary volume was off from 29,882 a year earlier.
HAMP transactions numbered 10,725 in the latest month, down from 11,003 in November and 13,544 in December 2013.
From Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 31, 2014, there were a combined 466,892 HAMP and proprietary loan modifications completed, far fewer than the
768,346 completed in all of 2013.
Overall annual activity
has fallen each year since at least 2010, when there were 1,783,230 home loans modified.