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WASHINGTON—The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) reported that the performance of first-lien mortgages in the federal banking system improved during the second quarter of 2021.

The OCC Mortgage Metrics Report, Second Quarter 2021 showed that 95.0 percent of mortgages included in the report were current and performing at the end of the second quarter of 2021 compared to 91.1 percent at the end of the second quarter of 2020. The second quarter of 2020 was the first full quarter of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The percentage of seriously delinquent mortgages—mortgages that are 60 or more days past due and all mortgages held by bankrupt borrowers whose payments are 30 or more days past due—was 3.8 percent in the second quarter of 2021, compared to 4.6 percent in the prior quarter and 6.8 percent a year ago.

Servicers initiated 592 new foreclosures during the second quarter of 2021, a 28.9 percent decrease from the previous quarter and a 137.8 percent increase from a year ago. Events associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, including foreclosure moratoriums, have significantly affected these metrics.

Servicers completed 39,599 mortgage modifications in the second quarter of 2021, a decrease of 17.1 percent from the previous quarter. Of the 39,599 mortgage modifications, 53.3 percent reduced borrowers’ monthly payments and 97.2 percent were “combination modifications”—modifications that included multiple actions affecting affordability and sustainability of the loan, such as an interest rate reduction and a term extension.

The first-lien mortgages included in the OCC’s quarterly report comprise 23 percent of all residential mortgage debt outstanding in the United States or approximately 12.8 million loans totaling $2.59 trillion in principal balances. This report provides information on mortgage performance through June 30, 2021, and it can be downloaded from the OCC’s website, www.occ.gov.

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