The housing market “remains fragile” with a mixed picture of recovery, the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported in its August Housing Scorecard, released this week.
“The fragility of the market is underscored by the fact mortgage delinquencies rose slightly in July,” the report states. However, it notes that home prices saw an increase for the third consecutive month in July, with foreclosure starts and completions showing a decline.
The Administration said it remains committed to its efforts to stabilize the housing market and to prevent avoidable foreclosures.
The affordability index remains high, but has been on the decline recently, while mortgage rates remained near record lows, the report notes.
“The Administration’s efforts have helped millions of families deal with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression,” the report states. “More than 5 million mortgage aid arrangements were started between April 2009 and the end of July 2011. While some homeowners may have received help from more than one program, the total number of aid offers is more than double the number of foreclosure completions for the same period (2.2 million).”
Additionally, the report makes not of the more than 28,000 homeowners who received permanent modifications through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) in July, with a total of 790,000 homeowners having received assistance to date.
View the August Housing Scorecard.
Written by Elizabeth Ecker
