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61 » VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM THE GSEs REPORT FORECLOSURE PREVENTION ACTIONS Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac wrapped up 15,683 foreclosure prevention actions in May, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) May Foreclosure Prevention Report. is brings the total number of foreclosure prevention actions to 3,914,668 since the inception of the conservatorships back in September 2008. More than half of the actions reported for May—or 10,769—were permanent loan modifications, compared with 11,328 in April. All told, since September 2008, the Enterprises have granted permanent loan mods to 2,076,345 distressed homeowners. Along those same lines, the share of modifications with principal forbearance accounted for 25 percent of all permanent modifications in May, according to the report. Modifications with extend-term only leapt to 45 percent during the month thanks to ongoing positive headwinds in house prices. Additionally, a combined 1,489 short sales and deeds-in-lieu sealed in May. ere were 10 percent more—or 1,650—in April. As for the Enterprises mortgage performance metrics, the serious delinquency rate spiraled down further, plunging from 1.01 percent at the close of April to 0.98 percent at the end of May. Loans 30–59 days' delinquent charted at 402,780 in April; they stood at 348,141 in May. Continuing their downward trajectory, 60-plus-days' delinquent loans hit 1.3 percent in May, decreasing from April's 1.34 percent. In terms of Fannie and Freddie foreclosures, third-party and foreclosure sales jumped 9 percent, from 5,523 in April to 6,042 in May. Foreclosure starts tumbled 13 percent from 17,056 in April to 14,905 in May. e top five reasons for delinquency in May included curtailment of income (21 percent), excessive obligations (22 percent), unemployment (7 percent), illness of principal mortgagor or family member (6 percent), and marital difficulties (3 percent). HOME EQUITY: FUNDING BUSINESS According to a recent report by the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) citing new data from the U.S. Census Bureau, home equity has been used to start 284,618 or 7.3 percent of all businesses in the U.S. e Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs (ASE) collects economic and demographic data on different aspects of business ownership in major U.S. industries for three years beginning in 2015. What they found is that six industries in particular use home equity at higher rates than others. Accommodation and food services (10.3 percent), other services with the omission of public administration (9.8 percent), retail trade (9.7 percent), and manufacturing (9.3 percent), however also experience lower rates of profitability and average $50,000 to $99,000 worth of funding as startup capital. Also on the list, real estate and rental and leasing came in with 4.9 percent of business pulling from home equity and construction at 6.9 percent. e survey also took into account demographic data when looking at funding from home equity. Women owned businesses (60,200 firms) were slightly more likely to use home equity than men (162,086 firms), coming in at 7.8 percent and 6.6 percent respectively. Of those that had equal ownership (61,311), 10.8 percent used home equity. Breaking the data down by race, Pacific Islander or Hawaiian business owners (371 firms) used home equity 10 percent of the time. American Indian or Alaskan Native (1,769 firms) had 9.1 percent use home equity, Asian (30,794 firms) at 9.0 percent, Black or African-American (5,485 firms) at 7.8 percent, and White (241,574 firms) at 7.3 percent. According to NAHB, home equity plays a substantial role in U.S. business, but for women and racial minorities it's even more imperative, particularly with African-American. ough the Census Bureau's Housing Vacancy Survey shows African-American's having below average rates of homeownership, home equity is allowing them to have a slightly above average showing in funding entrepreneurship.

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