HOPE NOW Oregon Data Update: Foreclosure Starts+Completions Average 61 a Day In 3rd. Quarter 2008.

HOPE NOW has published their monthly regular report which covers data through September 2008, HERE.

While the HOPE NOW reports focus on state level loan modification data, they also contain valuable state level foreclosure data. I have extracted that data from this and prior HOPE NOW reports to get some insight into foreclosure trends in Oregon.

I have completed an analysis of foreclosure data for all of CY 2007 and through the first 3 quarters of CY 2008 and put the data into a file with a table and graphs HERE. (Both the table and charts ALSO include breakouts for both prime and sub prime loans).

Some key observations:

Total Foreclosure Actions Increase to 61 a Day in Third Quarter [Pgs. 1-3 of Analysis]

• In the first quarter of 2007, the monthly average for all foreclosure actions (starts+completions) was 575. By the third quarter of 2008 the monthly average for all foreclosure actions had jumped to 1,829--a 218% increase. Put another way, during the first quarter of 2007 total foreclosure actions were a little more than 19 a day, but by 3rd. quarter of 2008 they had jumped to 61 a day.
  
• If you look in the table on the first page of my analysis you will see that there were 1,998 combined foreclosure starts+completions in September 2008 alone. That one month total is very close to the 2,030 starts and completions that occurred during the ENTIRE 3rd quarter of 2007.

YTD Increases for First Three Quarters of the Year.[Pgs. 4-5 of Analysis]

• Foreclosures starts for the first three quarters of the year increased from 4,674 in 2007 to 10,760 in 2008. That's a 130 % increase.
• Foreclosures completions for the first three quarters of the year increased from 961 in 2007 to 3,395 in 2008. That's a 253 % increase.

Increases for Third Quarter 2008 vs. Third Quarter 2007. [Pgs.6-7 of Analysis]

• Foreclosures starts in the third quarter increased from 1,618 in the third quarter of 2007 to 3,988 in the third quarter of 2008. That's a 146 % increase.
• Foreclosures completed increased from 412 in the third quarter of 2007 to 1,498 in the third quarter of 2008. That's a 264 % increase.

Note: 1. All foreclosure start and completion data comes from the HOPE NOW data reports and data fields with the label "Foreclosure Starts [Completions] Adjusted for all HOPE NOW Servicers". 2. Daily foreclosure rates were calculated using a standard 30 day month.

Bernanke Speech: More Federal Government Help, Including FHA Reforms, Needed to Deal with Foreclosures.

As reported HERE by Bloomberg News, Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke yesterday said that the federal government needs to do more to deal with mortgage foreclosures.

His observation that 'The Congress can take an important step by moving quickly to reconcile and enact legislation permitting the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to increase its scale and improve its management of risks." is being reported as being in support of the Barney Frank House bill, H.R. 5830, now scheduled for House consideration Wednesday and Thursday. (The link to H.R.5830 is to the bill version as amended in the House Financial Services markup)

The text of his speech can be found HERE, at the Federal Reserve website.

See PR Presentation Made by Treasury to Wall Street Execs.

Reuters report HERE says that Treasury Department held a series of private meetings with Wall Street executives to brief them on actions taken by Treasury Department to deal with credit and mortgage market problems. Apparently briefings are part of PR campaign to convince Wall Street that some of Democratic legislative housing proposals are not needed.

WSJ posted (to online subscribers like me) the Treasury Department presentation used during those meetings. As this presentation is by public officials it is presumably in the public domain so I have reposted it HERE to my web space.

Tips:

• Page 14 shows that Subprime loans make up 12% of loans outstanding, and 55% of foreclosures whereas prime fixed rate loans make up 63% of loans outstanding but only 17% of foreclosures.
• Page 30 says that HOPE NOW servicers report that 36% of workouts in first quarter '08 were loan modifications, 64% were repayment plans. That's more than double the rate of loan modifications from same quarter in '07 where split was 17% loan modifications, 83% repayment plans.