Mortgage Performance Improve in Second Quarter 2016

Mortgage Performance Improves in Second Quarter of 2016

Performance of first-lien mortgages improved during the second quarter of 2016 compared with a year earlier, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's (OCC) quarterly report on mortgages.

The OCC Mortgage Metrics Report, Second Quarter 2016 , showed 94.7 percent of mortgages included in the report were current and performing at the end of the quarter, compared with 93.8 percent a year earlier.

The report also showed that foreclosure activity has declined. Reporting servicers initiated 48,732 new foreclosures during the second quarter of 2016, a 31.1 percent decrease from a year earlier.

As first-lien mortgage performance improves, the need for other loss mitigation actions declines. Servicers implemented 34,604 mortgage modifications in the second quarter of 2016. Eighty-seven percent of the modifications reduced borrowers' monthly payments.

The first-lien mortgages included in the OCC's quarterly report comprise 37 percent of all residential mortgages outstanding in the United States or about 20.7 million loans totaling $3.6 trillion in principal balances. This report provides information on their performance through June 30, 2016.