The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury have released the December edition of the Obama Administration's Housing Scorecard—a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. Data continue to show important progress across many key indicators with the housing marketing bottoming out nationally and clearly turning a corner—as home values continue to rise and home sales remained strong in November—although officials caution that the overall recovery remains fragile.
“As the December housing scorecard indicates, our housing market is continuing to show important signs of recovery—with the FHFA and Case-Shiller housing price indices up 5.6 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively, from one year ago,” said HUD Senior Advisor on Housing Finance Michael Berman.
The December Housing Scorecard features key data on the health of the housing market and the impact of the Administration’s foreclosure prevention programs, including:
►Home prices showed large annual gains for the 12 months ending October 2012 and the Administration’s recovery efforts continue to help millions of families deal with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. More than six million mortgage modification and other forms of assistance arrangements were started between April 2009 and the end of November 2012. More than 81,000 loans were refinanced under the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) in October, bringing the total to 790,600 since the beginning of 2012.
►The Administration's foreclosure programs are providing relief for millions of homeowners as we continue to recover from an unprecedented housing crisis. More than 1.4 million homeowner assistance actions have taken place through the Making Home Affordable Program, while the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has offered more than 1.5 million loss mitigation and early delinquency interventions. The Administration's programs continue to encourage improved standards and processes in the industry, with HOPE Now lenders offering families and individuals more than three million proprietary mortgage modifications through October.
►HAMP continues to offer homeowners sustainable relief to avoid foreclosure. As of November, more than 1.1 million homeowners have received a permanent modification through HAMP, saving approximately $544 on their mortgage payments each month, and an estimated $16.7 billion to date. In November, 77 percent of homeowners with eligible non-GSE mortgages benefited from principal reduction with their HAMP modification. Eighty-seven percent of homeowners entering the program in the last two and a half years have received a permanent modification of their mortgage through HAMP.
"The Administration's programs to prevent foreclosure have helped millions of families stay in their homes and prompted critical changes in the way the mortgage industry assists struggling homeowners, which have helped our country recover faster from an unprecedented housing crisis," said Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability Tim Massad.
