Yesterday, Countrywide Financial (NYSE:CFC) announced that their foreclosure situation was worsening and investors reacted by dumping the stock to the tune of nearly 4%.At the heart of the matter was Countrywide’s relatively new disclosure that, as a percentage of all unpaid principle, foreclosures had soared, increasing over 113% since last year and standing now at just under 1% of all outstanding principle.
Prior to January 2007, Countrywide reported foreclosure data as a percentage of the total number of loans serviced which obviously lacked complete clarity.
Below, are charts of both measures; foreclosures by total number of loans serviced and foreclosures by percentage of unpaid loan principle (Click for larger versions).
Either way you slice it, Countrywide is looking at some significant increases in foreclosure activity but notice that for the “unpaid loan principle” method, things are really looking dire.
Be sure to check out the Countrywide Financial Foreclosures (REO) Blog’s Inventory Tracker for some more startling evidence that foreclosures are skyrocketing over at Countrywide Financial as well as some excellent REO tracking features.
