GSE foreclosure starts on the rise in new LPS survey

The June Mortgage Monitor report released by Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS) shows that overall foreclosure starts and foreclosure inventories have remained relatively stable; however, foreclosure starts for loans owned by the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) are at an all-time high. The largest percentage of GSE foreclosure starts are coming from loans that are six or more months behind on payment. This finding is consistent with the reports of increased Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) trial period cancellations. Total delinquent and foreclosure inventories remain at historically elevated levels with Jumbo and Agency prime product experiencing the greatest percentage increase since January 2008. The report also shows that two loans are deteriorating in status for every one loan that improved, and approximately 775,000 loans that were current at the beginning of January are at least 60 days delinquent or in foreclosure as of the end of June. Conversely, the volume of loans "curing" to a current status from most stages of delinquency has increased slightly. The greatest percentage increase in cures over the last several months has come within the late stage of delinquency (180 days or more), and is primarily attributable to HAMP trial modifications being converted to a permanent status. Other key results from LPS' latest Mortgage Monitor report include: ►Total U.S. loan delinquency rate: 9.55 percent ►Total U.S. foreclosure inventory rate: 3.65 percent ►Total U.S. non-current* loan rate: 13.2 percent ►States with most non-current* loans: Florida, Nevada, Mississippi, Georgia, Arizona ►States with the fewest non-current* loans: North Dakota, South Dakota, Alaska, Wyoming, Montana *Non-current totals combine foreclosures and delinquencies as a percent of active loans in that state. Note: Totals based on LPS Applied Analytics' loan-level database of mortgage assets. For more information, visit www.lpsvcs.com.