Phoenix led all cities in terms of mortgage dollars saved

By Adam Lyons in : News // May 26 2010

Genworth Financial has been having great success with the Obama Administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Many people have been wondering if and when the HAMP program will take hold as mortgage companies adjust their processes to streamline the new program. Government watchdogs, consumer advocates, and lawmakers have, since its unveiling last March, repeatedly criticized HAMP and its architects over at the Treasury Department.

In just over a year, the program, which was initially predicted to help three to four million homeowners, has provided permanent loan modifications (an agreement between the mortgage servicer and homeowner to lower monthly payments through interest rate or principal reductions, or extending the loan’s life) to 228,000 homeowners, according to Phyllis Caldwell, the head of the Homeownership Preservation Office within the Treasury. By contrast, there were 2.8 million foreclosures in 2009, and some three million more are projected this year.

Several sand states led the overall foreclosure prevention efforts, with $347m of mortgages California, $342m of mortgages in Florida, and $175m of mortgages in Arizona receiving workouts. Following the top states were Texas ($173m of mortgages), Illinois ($167m), Georgia ($164m), New York ($152m), New Jersey ($144m), North Carolina ($122m) and Maryland ($107m).

Among these top 10 states, California and Arizona saw triple-digit increases in workouts. Phoenix led all cities in terms of mortgage dollars saved ($51m), followed by Chicago ($40m), Miami ($31m), Houston ($22m) and Charlotte ($19m). Each mortgage workout amounted to, on average, a savings of $144,730 per borrower.

Loan modifications accounted for 33% of all workouts, while HAMP mods followed at 24%. Repayment plans took another 19% of workouts, short sales accounted for 18% and Genworth’s Homesaver Advance program took another 4%. Other workout types accounted for the remaining 2%:

Mortgage insurer Genworth Financial helped servicers exercise foreclosure prevention workouts on $3.4bn of mortgages four-quarter period ending March 31, 2010, from $2.6bn in the previous quarter, the company said today. Read more about Housing Wire’s interview with Genworth Financial at their website here. Learn more about Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) at the official website.

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