It appears we are not out of the woods with the housing crisis just yet. The Treasury expects there to be millions more foreclosures coming in the coming months and years. Here is an excerpt from the recent Reuters story on the subject:
Only 12 percent of U.S. homeowners eligible for loan modifications under the Obama administration’s housing rescue plan have had their mortgages reworked, and millions more foreclosures are coming, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.
A Treasury report showed 360,165 people had their monthly payments reduced through August, up from 235,247 through July, but a senior Treasury official conceded much more must be done to soften the impact of a severe and prolonged housing crisis.
…
Treasury has begun releasing monthly reports on the loan modification program, called the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, that it launched in February. At the time, it was suggested that millions of Americans might be able to get some relief through negotiations with their mortgage lenders.
But the program is off to a relatively slow start.
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Barr said that “even if HAMP is a total success, we should still expect millions of foreclosures” as administration and industry efforts continue to stabilize a crisis-stricken housing sector.
Treasury said that 47 loan servicers have signed up for the loan modification program initiated by Treasury. But the Treasury report showed 21 had modified less than 5 percent of eligible troubled loans and several had not modified any.
Barr said a strong housing market was “crucial” to a sustained U.S. economic recovery and noted that analysts say more than six million Americans are at risk of foreclosure in the next three years.
“Much more remains to be done and we will continue to work with other agencies, regulators and the private sector to reach as many families as possible,” Barr said.
