Freddie Mac completes 23,000 loan mods, single-family delinquency rate drops

Freddie Mac completed 23,017 loan modifications during the first two months of 2011 and said single-family delinquencies on mortgages held or backed by the GSE dropped in February.

The government-sponsored enterprise's latest monthly loan volume report showed 11,864 loan mods were completed in February and 11,153 in January. Freddie Mac noted the seriously delinquent rate of single-family mortgages fell to 3.78% in February, while the multifamily delinquency rate increased to 0.36%.

Last year, Freddie was reporting a growth in mortgage delinquencies.

The aggregate unpaid balance on all the GSEs mortgage-related portfolios increased by $1.3 billion. Total mortgage-related securities and other guarantee commitments decreased at an annualized rate of 1.7% in February.

The GSE also reported that its single-family, refinance-loan purchase and guarantee volume hit $31.4 billion in February, representing 81% of total mortgage purchases and issuances.. That compares to last month when the single-family refinance-loan purchase and guarantee volume was $32.4 billion or 83% of total loan volume.

Write to Kerri Panchuk.