Number of Modified Mortgages Jumps Sharply
Number of Modified Mortgages Jumps Sharply
February18, 2010, Los Angeles Times
The number of mortgages with permanently lowered monthly payments under the Obama administration's foreclosure prevention program increased dramatically in January. Under the federal Home Affordable Modification Program, monthly payments were permanently lowered for 116,297 loans by the end of January, up from 66,465 a month earlier, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday. Also, click here, to read this Wall Street Journal article on loan modifications. And the Associated Press also covered the story.
Mortgage Delinquencies Tick Higher in 4th-qtr 2009
February17, 2010, The Associated Press
The percentage of homeowners late with mortgage payments hit another record during the last three months of 2009, and the pace at which they fell behind took a turn for the worse, a new report says. For the fourth quarter, 6.89 percent of mortgage payments were 60 or more days past due, according to credit reporting agency TransUnion. That's up from 4.58 percent in the final three months of 2008. The previous record delinquency rate was 6.25 percent in the third quarter of 2009.
Short Sales Grow as a Cheaper Alternative to Foreclosure
February17, 2010, Los Angeles Times
Banks' resistance to the tricky transactions is softening as the number of distressed properties increases. Short sales approved by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which own 57% of U.S. mortgages, nearly quadrupled in the first nine months of 2009 compared with the same period in 2008. At the nation's largest mortgage servicers, short sales soared 165% to 74,513 in the first nine months of 2009 from the year-earlier period.