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65 July 2024 J O U R N A L Among the 224 metropolitan statis- tical areas (MSAs) with a population of at least 200,000, those with the highest foreclosure rates in May 2024 were: » Longview, Texas (one in every 1,162 housing units with a foreclosure filing); » Trenton, New Jersey (one in every 1,471 housing units); » Atlantic City, New Jersey (one in every 1,569 housing units); » Lakeland, Florida (one in every 1,584 housing units); and » Bakersfield, California (one in every 1,685 housing units). Those metropolitan areas with a population greater than one million with the worst foreclosure rates in May 2024 were reported in: » Chicago (one in every 2,015 housing units); » Philadelphia (one in every 2,143 hous- ing units); » Riverside, California (one in every 2,216 housing units); » Jacksonville, Florida (one in every 2,267 housing units); and » Las Vegas (one in every 2,361 housing units). Lenders started the foreclosure process on 22,385 U.S. properties in May 2024, up 3% from last month, but down 4% year over year. States that reported the greatest number of foreclosure starts in May 2024 included: » Florida (2,750 foreclosure starts); » Texas (2,560 foreclosure starts); » California (2,370 foreclosure starts); » Illinois (1,427 foreclosure starts); and » New Jersey (1,219 foreclosure starts). The major metropolitan areas with a population greater than one million that had the greatest number of foreclosure starts in May 2024 included: » New York, New York (1,447 foreclosure starts); » Chicago (1,272 foreclosure starts); » Houston (915 foreclosure starts); » Miami (750 foreclosure starts); and » Philadelphia (713 foreclosure starts). Lenders repossessed 2,879 U.S. prop- erties through completed foreclosures (REOs) in May 2024, down 1% from last month and down 28% year over year. States that reported the greatest number of REOs in May 2024 included: » California (254 REOs); » Illinois (254 REOs); » Pennsylvania (238 REOs); » Ohio (177 REOs); and » Texas (167 REOs). MSAs with a population greater than one million that saw the greatest number of REOs in May 2024 included: » Chicago (179 REOs); » New York (124 REOs); » Baltimore (84 REOs); » Pittsburgh (80 REOs); and » Washington, D.C. (69 REOs). The State of Loss Mitigation And as home prices continue to average $360,681 nationally according to Zillow, and up 4.3% year over year, rates waver above and below the 7% range, and affordability struggles linger, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) re- cently reported on the latest forbearance numbers, as the total number of loans in forbearance stands at 0.22% as of April 30, 2024. According to MBA's estimate, 110,000 homeowners are in forbearance plans, while the nation's mortgage ser- vicers have provided forbearance options to approximately 8.1 million borrowers since March 2020. In addition, in April 2024, the share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance declined one basis point from 0.12% to 0.11%. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance dropped one basis point from 0.40% to 0.39%, and the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securi- ties remained the same at 0.31%. By reason, 71.1% of borrowers are in forbearance for reasons such as a temporary hardship caused by job loss, death, divorce, or disability, while 11.5% of borrowers were still in forbearance due to COVID-19-related instances. By stage, 57.3% of total loans are in forbearance in the initial forbearance plan stage, while 22.7% are in forbearance extension. The remaining 20% are forbearance reentries, including reentries with extensions. Total loans serviced that were current (not delinquent or in foreclosure) as a percentage of servicing portfolio volume (#) increased to 96.09% (on a non-season- ally adjusted basis) in April 2024, up 17 basis points from 95.92% in March 2024.