The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency today released the first quarter 2024 mortgage metrics report, which showed that 97.4% of first-lien mortgages in the federal banking system were current and performing at the end of the quarter. The figure was up from 97.2% during the previous quarter, but mortgage performance decreased compared to Q1 2023, when 97.6% of mortgages were current and performing, according to the agency.
The percentage of seriously delinquent mortgages was 1.1% in Q1, a decrease from 1.2% the previous quarter and the same as a year ago, according to the OCC. Servicers initiated 7,408 new foreclosures, a decrease from 8,320 the prior quarter and 11,459 a year earlier. The agency also reported that servicers completed 7,926 modifications during Q1, a 7.4% increase from the previous quarter’s 7,382 modifications. Of these 7,926 modifications, 6,991 or 88.2%, were “combination modifications”—modifications that included multiple actions affecting the affordability and sustainability of the loan, such as an interest rate reduction and a term extension.
The first-lien mortgages included in the OCC report comprise 21.4% of all residential mortgage debt outstanding in the U.S. or approximately 11.5 million loans totaling $2.8 trillion in principal balances.
