Distressed

While the government-sponsored enterprise’s single-family mortgages are still not performing as well as they did before the pandemic, the most recent vintages are getting there.

More than half of the seriously delinquent mortgages that did not have this type of payment relief were originated prior to ability-to-repay requirements enacted following the Great Recession, the latest Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia study found.

While smaller in number, initiated foreclosures had a similar consecutive-quarter gain as the market transitioned away from pandemic-related relief that has artificially constrained workout activity.

Private-market loans nudged the total number up during a processing lull, according to Black Knight.

The number of properties in limbo is up 10.3% from the same time last year, according to Attom Data Solutions.

An uptick in pandemic-related payment suspensions reflecting new or restarted plan activity previously occurred as the omicron variant spread, but activity has since subsided.

However, the seven institutions in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency study service 13% fewer loans compared with the third quarter of last year.

While over 112,000 loans exited plans in the past week, there is only a modest opportunity for continued improvement in the near term, Black Knight said.

Axylyum, which recently released information about its first named client, offers an alternative to other forms of risk sharing for private companies originating income-producing mortgages.

Like the stock market rout around news of the Omicron variant, the recent increase in payment suspensions suggests financial troubles associated with the pandemic may not be over.