Mortgage Performance Improved During the First Quarter 2015

Summary

The performance of first-lien mortgages serviced by eight national banks improved during the first quarter of 2015, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's (OCC) quarterly report on mortgage performance.

The OCC Mortgage Metrics Report, First Quarter 2015, showed 94.2 percent of mortgages included in the report were current and performing at the end of the quarter, compared with 93.1 percent a year earlier. The percentage of mortgages that were 30 to 59 days past due was 1.9 percent of the portfolio, a 7.0 percent decrease from a year earlier. Seriously delinquent mortgages—60 or more days past due or held by bankrupt borrowers whose payments are 30 days or more past due—made up 2.6 percent of the portfolio—a 16.4 percent decrease from a year earlier.

Foreclosure activity among the reporting servicers also declined compared with a year earlier. The number of mortgages in the process of foreclosure at the end of the first quarter of 2015 fell to 299,424, a decrease of 30.8 percent from a year earlier. The percentage of mortgages that were in the process of foreclosure at the end of the first quarter of 2015 was 1.3 percent. Servicers initiated 83,058 new foreclosures during the quarter, a decrease of 8.6 percent from a year earlier. The number of completed foreclosures decreased 31.5 percent from a year earlier to 38,509. Improved economic conditions and foreclosure prevention assistance contributed to the decline in foreclosure activity.

Servicers implemented 188,816 home retention actions during the quarter—including modifications, trial-period plans, and shorter-term payment plans—compared with 47,430 home forfeiture actions, which include completed foreclosures, short sales, and deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure actions. The number of home retention actions implemented by servicers decreased 20.6 percent from a year earlier.

In the first quarter of 2015, more than 89.2 percent of modifications reduced monthly principal and interest payments; 55.6 percent of modifications reduced payments by 20 percent or more. Modifications reduced payments by $271 per month on average.

Servicers implemented 3,696,929 modifications from January 1, 2008, through December 31, 2014. Of these modifications, approximately 53 percent were active at the end of the first quarter of 2015, and 47 percent had exited the portfolio through payment in full, involuntary liquidation, or transfer to a non-reporting servicer. Of the 1,969,431 active modifications at the end of the first quarter of 2015, 72.2 percent were current and performing, 22.4 percent were delinquent, and 5.5 percent were in the process of foreclosure.

The mortgages in this portfolio comprise 43.9 percent of all residential mortgages outstanding in the United States—22.7 million loans totaling $3.8 trillion in principal balances. This report provides information on their performance through March 31, 2015.