August 2020 Highlights — Foreclosure Prevention

The Enterprises' Foreclosure Prevention Actions:

• The Enterprises completed 166,942 foreclosure prevention actions in August, bringing the total to 5,083,030 since the start of the conservatorships in September 2008. Nearly half of these actions have been permanent loan modifications.
• There were 3,599 permanent loan modifications in August, bringing the total to 2,428,926 since the conservatorships began in September 2008.
• Twenty-three percent of modifications in August were modifications with principal forbearance. Modifications with extend-term only accounted for 61 percent of all loan modifications during the month.
• The number of borrowers who received payment deferrals after completing a COVID-19 related forbearance plan dropped from 108,492 in July to 60,364 in August.
• Initiated forbearance plans decreased 13 percent from 88,989 in July to 77,546 in August. The total number of loans in forbearance plans decreased from 1,263,980 at the end of July to 1,147,033 at the end of August, representing approximately 4.0% of the total loans serviced, and 82.1 percent of the total delinquent loans.
• There were 308 short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure completed in August, down 4 percent compared with July.

The Enterprises' Mortgage Performance:

• The 30-59 days delinquency rate dropped to 1.11 percent, while the serious delinquency rate increased from 3.19 percent at the end of July to 3.26 percent at the end of August. The increase in the serious delinquency rate was as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the forbearance programs being offered to affected borrowers.

The Enterprises' Foreclosures:

• Third-party and foreclosure sales dropped 14 percent to 542 while foreclosure starts decreased 4 percent to 1,935 in August.

August 2020 Highlights — Refinance Activities

• Total refinance volume increased in August 2020 to record levels as mortgage rates fell in previous months. Mortgage rates decreased further in August: the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage fell to 2.94 percent from 3.02 percent in July.
• In August, 15 refinances were completed through the High LTV Refinance Option, bringing total refinances through the High LTV Refinance Option from the inception of the program to 98.
• The percentage of cash-out refinances decreased to 24 percent in August from 25 percent in July. Mortgage rates have continued to fall, creating more opportunities for non cash-out borrowers to refinance at lower rates and lower their monthly payments.