Foreclosures inched up in the fourth quarter by 0.7% at national banks and federal savings associations, while the number of performing first-lien mortgages were largely unchanged, according to the federal regulator of the institutions.
However, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) also noted that foreclosures were down 24.1% from the end of the fourth quarter 2016, in its OCC Mortgage Metrics Report, Fourth Quarter 2017.
According to the report, 34,519 new foreclosures were reported in the fourth quarter of 2017. Nevertheless, 94.5% of mortgages noted in the report were current and performing at the end of the quarter. At the end of the third quarter, OCC reported, 94.7% of mortgage were performing.
Additionally, the regulator reported, 21,866 modifications to mortgages were made in the fourth quarter of last year; of those, 79% reduced monthly payments.
According to the report, at the end of last year, mortgages at national banks and federal savings associations totaled $3.32 trillion in principal balances for 18.1 million loans. All told, those mortgages account for 33% of all residential mortgages in the U.S.
OCC Mortgage Metrics Report, Fourth Quarter 2017