Industry Update
June 21, 2024

Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today released its first quarter 2024 Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance Report. The report shows that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) completed 52,154 foreclosure prevention actions during the quarter, raising the total number of homeowners who have been helped to 6,957,884 since the start of conservatorships in September 2008.

The report also shows that 29 percent of loan modifications completed in the first quarter reduced borrowers’ monthly payments by more than 20 percent. The number of refinances decreased from 71,378 in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 69,878 in the first quarter of 2024.

The Enterprises’ serious delinquency rate declined from 0.55 percent at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023 to 0.51 percent at the end of the first quarter of 2024. This compares with 3.18 percent for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans, 2.01 percent for Veterans Affairs (VA) loans, and 1.44 percent for all loans (industry average).

Other highlights from the report include:

Forbearance: At the end of the quarter, there were 34,348 loans in forbearance, representing approximately 0.11 percent of the Enterprises’ single-family conventional book of business, down from 42,194 or 0.14 percent at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023. Approximately 2 percent of these loans have been on a forbearance plan for more than 12 months.

Mortgage Performance: The 60+ day delinquency rate declined 8 percent in the quarter, from 0.77 percent at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023 to 0.70 percent at the end of the first quarter of 2024.

Foreclosures: The number of foreclosure starts decreased slightly to 18,643 while third-party and foreclosure sales fell 3 percent to 3,178 in the first quarter.

Real Estate Owned (REO) Activity & Inventory: The Enterprises’ REO inventory decreased 5 percent from 19,902 in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 10,404 in the first quarter of 2024, as property dispositions outpaced acquisitions. The total number of property acquisitions decreased 5 percent to 1,400, while dispositions rose to 1,894 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.

Foreclosure Prevention, Refinance, and Federal Property Manager’s Report – 1Q 2024