In testimony to Congress on Thursday, Neel Kashkari, interim assistant secretary for the Financial Stability Department of the Treasury, said HOPE NOW estimates that nearly 2.7 million homeowners have been helped by the industry since July 2007 and that lenders were helping some 225,000 homeowners a month avoid foreclosure.
The numbers have not resulted in a dramatic drop in foreclosures. New filings in the third quarter fell to 1.07 from 1.08 in the second quarter nationally, though not in Florida.
"The question is what would the numbers have been without the modification," Brinkmann said, pointing out that a rise in the rates of loans 90 days past due was likely the result of lenders holding loans in delinquency to see if borrowers could perform under new loan terms.
Unlike unemployment figures mid-year, Brinkmann said recent job losses are affecting a broader swath of technical and collegeeducated employees who are more likely to own homes.
WORSE ACROSS BOARD
Conditions in Florida are worsening, Brinkmann said. All loan types showed higher delinquency rates than the previous quarter, compared to other states where certain categories are leveling out or falling slightly.
Another sobering indicator of the market conditions: Florida borrowers who fall behind on their payments by 30 days or are more than twice as likely to enter foreclosures than borrowers elsewhere.
The so-called roll rate from delinquency to foreclosure is 65 percent in Florida compared to 30 percent nationally. Brinkmann said it is probably far higher since the national average had been heavily skewed by roll rates in California and Florida.
Florida ranked sixth in percentage of borrowers 30 days or more past due on payments, however, and second in the number of new foreclosures started during the period, the MBA data showed.
The Mortgage Bankers study tracks 45.5 million loans, representing about 85 percent of first lien mortgages.
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