The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency today said that first-lien mortgages in the federal banking system performed better during the first quarter of 2023 than during the final quarter of last year. According to an agency report, 97.6% of mortgages were current and performing at the end of Q1, compared with 97.1% in Q4 2022. There was also an improvement compared to a year ago, when 96.9% of mortgages were current and performing. (As of March 31, reporting banks serviced approximately 12 million first-lien residential mortgage loans with $2.7 trillion in unpaid principal balances, the agency said.)
The percentage of seriously delinquent mortgages—defined as mortgages that are 60 or more days past due and all mortgages held by bankrupt borrowers whose payments are 30 or more days past due—was 1.1% in Q1, compared to 1.3% in the previous quarter and 1.8% a year ago.
Servicers initiated 11,459 new foreclosures in Q1, an increase from the prior quarter but a lower volume than a year earlier, the OCC said. At the same time, servicers completed 10,375 modifications during Q1, a 9.1% decrease from the previous quarter’s 11,419 modifications.
