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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 first quarter of 2022.

The OCC Mortgage Metrics Report, First Quarter 2022 showed that 96.9 percent of mortgages included in the report were current and performing at the end of the quarter, compared to 94.2 percent a year earlier.

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 1.8 percent in the first quarter of 2022, compared to 2.3 percent in the prior quarter and 4.6 percent a year ago.

Servicers initiated 19,524 new foreclosures in the first quarter of 2022, an increase from the prior quarter and a year earlier. The new foreclosure volume in the first quarter of 2022 is comparable to pre-COVID-19 pandemic foreclosure volumes and reflects the expiration of federal foreclosure moratoria.

Servicers completed 42,427 modifications in the first quarter of 2022, a decrease of 10.7 percent from the previous quarter. Of the 42,427 mortgage modifications, 80.8 percent reduced borrowers’ monthly payments, and 41,318, or 97.4 percent, were “combination modifications” – modifications that included multiple actions affecting the 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 22 percent of all residential mortgage debt outstanding in the United States or approximately 12.2 million loans totaling $2.6 trillion in principal balances.

This report provides information on mortgage performance through March 31, 2022, and is available on the OCC’s website, www.occ.gov.

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