The nation's serious delinquency rate on single-family mortgage loans for August was the lowest it has been in six years, according to Fannie Mae's August 2014 Monthly Summary released earlier this week.
Fannie Mae reported the serious delinquency rate for August to be 1.99 percent, which is its lowest level since October 2008 – a month after Fannie Mae's conservatorship under the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) began. The August rate was down slightly from the 2.00 percent that was reported for July and down from 2.61 percent that was reported in August 2013. The serious delinquency rate reached its peak of 5.59 percent in February 2010.
Since the serious delinquency rate has fallen by 0.62 percentage points in the last year, analysts say the rate could fall below the "normal" level of 1.0 percent by 2016, although declines have come at a slower pace in recent months.
Fannie Mae reported that 9.365 permanent loan modifications were completed in August, making a total of 88,231 loan modifications year-to-date through August 31, 2014.
Seriously delinquent mortgage loans are defined as those that are either three months or more behind on their payments or are in foreclosure.
The report also stated that in August, Fannie Mae's Book of Business decreased at a compound annualized rate of 4.0 percent while the GSE's Gross Mortgage Portfolio declined at a compound annualized rate of 16.7 percent for the month.