Mortgage servicers completed about 37,000 loan modifications in December, an increase of about 12% compared to the approximately 33,000 completed in November, according to HOPE NOW, a voluntary, private-sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers and nonprofit counselors.
There were about 29,000 foreclosure sales in December, an increase of 4% compared to 28,000 in November.Â
Foreclosure starts shot up about 33%, month over month. There were about 80,000 foreclosure starts in December compared to 60,000 in November. HOPE NOW's report does not provide any analysis as to why foreclosure starts increased so dramatically.
About 1.92 million mortgages were in serious delinquency in December, a decrease of about 2% compared to about 1.96 million in November.
Quarter over quarter, there were about 108,000 loan modifications in the fourth quarter of 2014, a decrease of about 4% compared to 113,000 in the third quarter.
However, loan modifications continued to outpace foreclosure sales. There were about 96,000 foreclosure sales in the fourth quarter, compared to about 110,000 in the third quarter.
There were about 205,000 foreclosure starts in the fourth quarter, a decrease of about 5% compared to about 215,000 in the third quarter.
Looking at 2014, about 489,000 permanent loan modifications were processed for the year, down 36% compared with about 767,000 in 2013.
Of the loan mods completed last year, about 352,000 were proprietary and about 136,898 were completed under the Home Affordable Modification Program.
There were approximately 842,000 foreclosure starts in 2014, a decrease of about 34% compared to 1.28 million in 2013.
There were about 455,000 foreclosure sales completed last year, a decrease of 27% compared to 624,000 in 2013.
During 2014, approximately 1.92 million loans were seriously delinquent at some point during the year, a decrease of about 5% compared to 2.03 million at the end of 2013.
The number of short sales and deeds-in-lieu also dropped significantly last year, the report reveals.
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