Loan modification data released by Hope Now – an alliance of mortgage servicers, insurers and housing counselors – notes the month of October brought 88,583 permanent loan modifications and 38,518 short sales.
Together, the numbers show 127,101 distressed homeowners received some type of escape route from foreclosure during the month-long period.
And in the past five years, nearly six million loan modifications have been launched to save homeowners.
Of those homeowners, 4.8 million received proprietary loan modifications, while 1.1 million received adjustments through the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).
In October, proprietary loan modifications from financial firms accounted for 72,580 of the total loan mods, while HAMP modifications totaled 16,003. Comparatively, in September, 60,595 proprietary loan mods were completed.
The number of short sales completed in the month of October also edged up 13% from 33,997 sales in September to a total of 38,518 sales in the most recent report.
About 1.1 million short sales have been completed since 2009.
Foreclosure starts dropped 24% for the month, falling from 150,010 in September to 113,555 in October, Hope Now said.
Foreclosure sales also grew 12%, hitting 71,080 completed transactions in October, up from 62,645 in September.
Delinquencies, on the other hand, increased to 2.54 million, a 3% increase from 2.46 million in September.
“The significant decrease in foreclosure starts is also worth noting, although one month alone is not a trend,” said Faith Schwartz, executive director of Hope Now.
“With multiple servicing transfers, AG settlement activity, and seasonal adjustments, we will be working with more volatility around monthly data for some time.”
