Home Foreclosures - Number Of Foreclosures And Refinancings Increasing

Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS) recently released their Mortgage Monitor Report for the month of August. The figures contained in the August Mortgage Monitor Report indicated that foreclosure starts have continued to accelerate, with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac seemingly being quite aggressive with timelines on early stage delinquencies. The report also indicates that mortgage refinancing activity is also increasing, as homeowners seek to capitalize on low mortgage rates.

The report further indicated that agency foreclosure starts had reduced during the month of August, which reverses the trend of the last 3 months, although portfolio foreclosure starts have increased. Most of these new foreclosure starts are the result of late stage delinquencies, although overall, a decline in the number of seriously delinquent loans not in foreclosure was reported. The report indicated that the total US loan delinquency rate was 9.22 percent, while the total US foreclosure inventory rate was 3.8 percent. The report also indicated that the total US non-current loan rate, which is a combination of foreclosures and delinquencies, expressed as a percentage of active loans in that state, was 13.02 percent.