The Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today released February data for the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).
According to the report, as of the end of the month, over one million borrowers were receiving a median savings of $500 each month, which is a 36% median monthly payment decrease.
Meanwhile, the report said that permanent modifications have been granted to 170,000 homeowners and an added 91,800 permanent modifications have been approved by servicers and are pending only borrower acceptance.
It also highlighted that more than a million borrowers are currently in active trial and permanent modifications. Additionally, over 1.3 million homeowners have received offers for trial modifications. This represents 34% to 45% toward the goal of 3 to 4 million offers extended through 2012.
The report said that over 72,000 new trial modifications began in February as borrower savings start with the first trial payment. Close to 1.1 million trial modifications, the report said, have begun under the program.
Of the 1 million borrowers in active modifications, over 168,000 borrowers are in active permanent modifications, according to the report. These homeowners’ lower monthly mortgage payments represent a cumulative savings of above $2.7 billion.
According to the report, of the modifications that have converted to permanent, 0.9% have been canceled. Of all modifications started, 8.2% have been canceled.
The report also said that borrowers in permanent modifications experience real, long-term savings in monthly housing expenses, adding that borrowers in permanent modifications are saving a median of 36% of their before-modification payment. The median savings is over $500 each month.
The qualified homeowners could lessen housing-related expenses from almost half of their gross income to less than one-third of their income, the report stated. Upon completing a year of on-time payments per program guidelines, borrowers can now be eligible to earn up to $1,000 to be applied to their outstanding mortgage balance.
