Performance of first-lien mortgages at national banks ticked upward in the first quarter of this year compared to the prior year, and foreclosures were down for the quarter compared to both the previous period and year, according to the federal regulator of national banks.
In its first quarter 2019 Mortgage Metrics Report, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said 96.2% of mortgages at federally chartered banks and thrifts included in the report were current and performing as of March 31, up from 95.6% a year earlier. At the end of the previous quarter (Dec. 31, 2018), total current mortgages were 95.8%, the OCC stated.
Regarding foreclosures, the OCC reported foreclosures were down 26% from a year earlier, and 6.5% down from the end of the previous quarter. The agency stated that 27,610 new foreclosures were initiated in the first three months of the year; 17,561 modifications were made, which the OCC said resulted in reduced monthly payments for borrowers in 72.6% of cases.
The agency said the first quarter numbers show 31% of all residential loans (about 16.7 million loans for $3.2 trillion in principal balances) are held in OCC-supervised institutions.