The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury released the August 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 August 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 the number of underwater homeowners decreasing by more than 40 percent, it is clear that we are moving in the right direction. As we regain stability in our housing markets, it is important to remember that we still have a long way to go in making sure that our housing finance system is strong for future generations.”
“The standards set by the Making Home Affordable Program (MHA) have changed the mortgage servicing industry, as have our quarterly assessments of servicer performance” said Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability Tim Massad. “While there has been significant progress, there is still more improvement needed in servicer behavior. And while the housing market has recovered substantially, there are still homeowners struggling to avoid foreclosure and it is vital that we continue to try to help them.”
Since inception of the MHA program, Treasury has required participating servicers to take specific actions to improve their processes through ongoing program reviews. The quarterly servicer assessments summarize performance in three categories of program implementation: identifying and contacting homeowners; homeowner evaluation and assistance; and program reporting, management and governance. Results for the second quarter of 2013 show that, although servicer performance can fluctuate from quarter to quarter, in general, servicers are demonstrating sustained performance in program implementation. While servicer’s execution of MHA has improved over time, there are still areas where servicer performance requires improvement, and Treasury will continue to apply pressure on the mortgage servicing industry to sustain these improvements.
All servicers will need to continue to demonstrate progress in any areas identified in subsequent program reviews. Servicers have been directed to enhance their execution in key areas that include timely solicitation of homeowners for participation in MHA; timely, accurate and detailed communications with homeowners; and ensuring the integrity and proper use of the Net Present Value model during the evaluation process.
The August housing scorecard features key data on the health of the housing market and the impact of the administration’s foreclosure prevention programs, including:
View the Making Home Affordable Program Report with data through July 2013.
Cover Story: