FHFA Releases 2nd Quarter 2021 Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance Report

​Washington, D.C. - The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today released its second quarter 2021 Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance Report, which shows that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) completed 217,020 foreclosure prevention actions in the second quarter of 2021, bringing the total number of homeowners who have been helped during conservatorships to 6.030 million.

The report also shows that 47 percent of loan modifications completed in the second quarter reduced borrowers' monthly payments by more than 20 percent. The number of refinances decreased from 2.016 million in the first quarter to 1.614 million in the second quarter.

The Enterprises' serious delinquency rate dropped from 2.48 percent to 1.99 percent at the end of the quarter. This compares with 9.48 percent for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans, 5.02 percent for Veterans Affairs (VA) loans, and 4.03 percent for all loans (industry average).

Other highlights from the report include:

• Forbearance : The total number of loans in forbearance plans continued to trend downward since its peak in May, as initiated forbearance plans decreased but remained elevated through the second quarter of 2021 compared with pre-pandemic levels. As of June 30, 2021, there were 490,508 loans in forbearance, representing approximately 1.6% of the Enterprises' single-family conventional book of business, down from 660,039 or 2.2% at the end of the first quarter.
• Mortgage Performance : The 60+ days delinquency rate dropped from 2.68 percent at the end of the first quarter to 2.14 percent at the end of the second quarter. The delinquency rates remained much higher than pre-coronavirus rates due to the forbearance programs offered to borrowers affected by the pandemic.
• Foreclosures : The number of foreclosure starts dropped 32 percent to 6,233, while third-party and foreclosure sales increased 9 percent to 2,281 in the second quarter.
• Real Estate Owned (REO) Activity & Inventory : The Enterprises' REO inventory declined 8 percent from 8,522 in the first quarter to 7,840 in the second quarter, as property dispositions continued to outpace REO acquisitions. The total number of property acquisitions decreased 2 percent to 1,200, while dispositions decreased 25 percent to 1,832 during the quarter.

FHFA's quarterly foreclosure prevention and refinance reports include data on the Enterprises' mortgage performance, delinquencies, and active forbearance plans, as well as forfeiture actions and refinances by state. The data included in these reports are also available on FHFA's website as an interactive Borrower Assistance Map.