Obama Administration Releases October Housing Scorecard

Providence, Rhode Island housing market continues to show signs of significant improvement

WASHINGTON, D.C. – November 11, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury today released the October edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard – a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. The latest data show important progress across many key indicators—as home prices, purchases of new homes, and sales of existing homes continue to show strong annual gains—although officials caution that the overall recovery remains fragile. The full Housing Scorecard is available online at www.hud.gov/scorecard.

“As indicated in the October housing scorecard, the Administration continues to work to stabilize the housing market and help responsible homeowners get back on their feet,” said HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs Kurt Usowski. “With homeowners’ equity at its highest level since 2007 and home prices increasing steadily, it is clear that we are moving in the right direction.  As our housing market regains stability, it seems the time is ripe for private capital to begin taking a larger role in the housing finance system.”

“The Administration’s Making Home Affordable program continues to provide assistance to struggling homeowners, with more than 1.2 million homeowners receiving permanent modifications through HAMP,” said Tim Massad, Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability.  “In addition, the standards set through the program have helped change the industry and helped millions more avoid foreclosure.” The October Housing Scorecard features key data on the health of the housing market and the impact of the Administration’s foreclosure prevention programs, including:

• The Administration’s foreclosure mitigation programs continue to provide relief for millions of homeowners as the recovery from the housing crisis continues. Over 1.8 million homeowner assistance actions have taken place through the Making Home Affordable Program, including more than 1.2 million permanent modifications through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). The Administration’s programs continue to encourage improved standards and processes in the industry, with HOPE Now lenders offering families and individuals more than 3.8 million proprietary modifications through August.

• Homeowners in HAMP continue to benefit from meaningful payment relief, increasing their long-term likelihood of avoiding foreclosure.  As of September, more than 1.2 million homeowners have received a permanent modification through HAMP, saving approximately $547 on their mortgage payments each month- an almost 40 percent savings from their previous payment. This represents a total estimated savings of $22.9 billion in monthly mortgage payments, since the inception of the program. In September, 72 percent of eligible non-GSE mortgages benefited from principal reduction with their HAMP modification. Homeowners currently in HAMP permanent modifications with some form of principal reduction have been granted an estimated $12.1 billion in principal reduction. View the Making Home Affordable Program Report with data through September 2013.

Also featured this month in the Administration’s Housing Scorecard is a regional spotlight on market strength in the Providence, Rhode Island area. Like many areas across the country, the economic and housing market conditions in the Providence area are improving, but the foreclosure crisis has taken its toll. The Administration’s broad approach to stabilize the housing market has been a real help to homeowners in Providence and the surrounding cities.

“As the housing market continues to strengthen nationwide, Providence is also showing signs of significant improvement,” said Usowski. “As this Regional Spotlight reports, from the launch of the Administration’s assistance programs in April 2009 through the end of August 2013, nearly 26,800 homeowners received mortgage assistance in the Providence metropolitan area.  This is a step in the right direction but we still have much to do to repair the damage caused by unsustainable lending in Providence prior to the crisis, and to help the continuing recovery.”

The Housing Scorecard Regional Spotlight features data on the health of the Providence housing market and impact of efforts to help homeowners at the local level including:

• Economic and housing market conditions in the Providence MSA are improving.  The share of mortgages that remain underwater has dropped to 17.3 percent as of the second quarter of 2013, down from 21.5 percent a year earlier. Jobs in the MSA have been increasing at an average annual rate of 4,025, or 0.7 percent, from the first quarter of 2010 through the second quarter of 2013. The Administration’s broad approach to stabilize the housing market has contributed to the improvements as more than 15,600 homeowners received mortgage assistance in the Providence area between April 2009 and August 2013 through the HAMP and FHA loss mitigation programs. An additional 11,200 proprietary mortgage modifications were made during this time through HOPE Now Alliance servicers.  Furthermore, the City of Providence and the State of Rhode Island have benefitted from $25 million in funding from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, and $79 million from the Hardest Hit Fund program.

• The National Mortgage Settlement is continuing to provide relief for those in Providence and throughout the state of Rhode Island.  Under the landmark National Mortgage Servicing Settlement, more than 2,000 Rhode Island homeowners had benefitted from over $150 million in consumer relief as of June 30, 2013.  1,182 of those borrowers, 56% of those helped, received an average of $72,586 in principal reduction on their first and second lien mortgages to help them stay in their homes.  In addition, 317 borrowers who were current on their mortgage but too far underwater for a traditional refinancing were able to refinance and save an average of $41,779 over the life of their loans. Nationwide, the settlement has provided more than $51 billion in consumer relief benefits to more than 640,000 families, including over $25 billion in first and second lien principal reduction for 319,559 borrowers.  That is in addition to the $2.5 billion in payments to participating states and $1.5 billion in direct payments to borrowers who were foreclosed upon between 2008 and 2011.

*Due to the government shutdown, the Obama Administration did not publish the September housing scorecard.

Contact:
HUD Public Affairs
(202) 708-0980

Treasury Public Affairs
(202) 622-2960