​​Washington, D.C. – The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today released its third quarter 2021 Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance Report​. The report shows that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) completed 180,566 foreclosure prevention actions during the quarter, raising the total number of homeowners who have been helped to 6,210,485 since the start of conservatorships in September 2008.

The report also shows that 43 percent of loan modifications completed in the third quarter reduced borrowers' monthly payments by more than 20 percent. The number of refinances decreased from 1.614 million in the second quarter to 1.286 million in the third quarter.

The Enterprises' serious delinquency rate dropped from 1.99 percent to 1.55 percent at the end of the quarter. This compares with 8.19 percent for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans, 4.48 percent for Veterans Affairs (VA) loans, and 3.40 percent for all loans (industry average).

Other highlights from the report include:

• Forbearance: The total number of loans in forbearance plans continued to trend downward since its peak in May, as initiated forbearance plans decreased but remained elevated through the third quarter of 2021 compared with pre-pandemic levels. As of September 30, 2021, there were 320,009 loans in forbearance, representing approximately 1.07% of the Enterprises' single-family conventional book of business, down from 490,508 or 1.65% at the end of the second quarter.
• Mortgage Performance: The 60+ days delinquency rate dropped from 2.14 percent at the end of the second quarter to 1.69 percent at the end of the third quarter. The delinquency rates remained much higher than pre-coronavirus rates due to the forbearance programs offered to borrowers affected by the pandemic.
• Foreclosures: The number of foreclosure starts increased 16 percent to 7,253, while third-party and foreclosure sales rose 11 percent to 2,534 in the third quarter.
• Real Estate Owned (REO) Activity & Inventory: The Enterprises' REO inventory increased 2 percent from 7,840 in the second quarter to 8,001 in the third quarter, as REO acquisitions outpaced property dispositions. The total number of property acquisitions increased 13 percent to 1,358, while dispositions decreased 35 percent to 1,197 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.