Townsend Appraisal Commentary

Members of Hope Now, a private-sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors and counselors, completed about 79,000 loan modifications in October, according to a Wednesday release.

Of the October total, about 26,000 were completed under the Home Affordable Modification Program and the rest were private-sector modifications. Principal and interest payments were reduced in about 79% of all propriety modifications.

The voluntary group announced last month that it had modified 5 million mortgages since 2007. Modifications from October brought the year-to-date total to about 885,000.

Foreclosure sales declined to 64,000 from 68,000 in September, while foreclosure starts increased 7% from the previous month.

Delinquencies of more than 60 days fell as well, down to 2.65 million from 2.81 million in September.

Write to Andrew Scoggin.