According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) fourth-quarter 2020 Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance Report, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed 362,912 foreclosure prevention actions in that period.
The total number of homeowners helped during conservatorships is 5.588 million, while 30 percent of fourth-quarter loan modifications reduced borrowers’ monthly payments by more than 20 percent. Additionally, the analysis showed refinances increased from 1.76 million in the third quarter to 2.01 million in the fourth quarter.
Other report details outlined how the total number of loans in forbearance continued to trend downward since its peak in May.
The 60-plus days delinquency rate decreased from 3.58 percent at the end of the third quarter to 3.07 percent at the end of the fourth quarter, and the number of foreclosure starts dropped 7 percent from 6,809 in the third quarter to 6,302 in the fourth quarter.
Lastly, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac REO inventory dipped 16 percent from 11,614 in the third quarter to 9,739 in the fourth quarter, while the total number of property acquisitions decreased 7 percent to 1,141 dispositions decreased 41 percent to 3,017 during the quarter.