Report: U.S. foreclosures jumped during third quarter

U.S. foreclosures jumped during third quarter

A new government report released on Wednesday said that U.S. foreclosures increased in the third quarter as fewer Americans were given financial aid with their mortgage fees. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Office of Thrift Supervision said that approximately 470,000 homeowners received help from government offices and banks, a 17 percent decline from the second quarter and a 32 percent decrease from the same quarter last year. During the same period from July to September 2010, completed foreclosures jumped 11.2 percent from the second quarter to 245,000. The figures only account for 64 percent of all mortgages which are held by thrift banks and national lenders. Moody's Analytics' top economist Mark Zandi predicts that the total number of U.S. foreclosures for 2010 will be 1.8 million homes and that it will peak at 2.1 million in 2011.

A separate report issued earlier showed that home prices dropped in the 20 biggest metropolitan areas in the country from September to October and the rise in the number of foreclosures is to blame. Government finance authorities say that banks have already sifted through the list of delinquent borrowers and assessed the applications for mortgage modifications. The Home Affordable Modification Program, the federal government's project to minimize foreclosures, can only muster 59,000 loan modifications in the third quarter. That is down 46 percent from the second quarter. About 44,000 loans are under a trial period lasting three months. This period tests the ability of homeowners to pay. Mortgage modifications become permanent if homeowners deliver prompt payments for three months.

Posted by James Fried on Thursday December 30 2010, 1:53 AM EST. Ref: AP. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Finance. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0