The share of current and performing first-lien mortgages rose to 94.1 percent for the fourth quarter of 2015, up from 93.2 percent a year earlier, according to the Mortgage Metrics Report released today by the OCC.
Delinquency rates saw year-on-year improvement — only 2.7 percent of mortgages were considered seriously delinquent at the end of the fourth quarter, compared to 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014. Foreclosure activity also continued to fall, with only 63,387 new foreclosures initiated in the fourth quarter, a 15.9 percent decrease from a year prior.
The OCC also noted a drop in other loss mitigation efforts as mortgage performance has steadily improved; mortgage modifications were down from a year ago, with only 35,118 implemented in 2015, compared with 47,561 in 2014.
