Mortgage companies have helped more than one million cash-strapped borrowers stay in their homes since the summer, new industry data show.

Even so, the number of homes subject to foreclosure is rising, and the percentage of borrowers who had good credit when they took out their loan and are now seeking help is growing.

In a report released yesterday, the Hope Now Alliance, the group coordinating the mortgage industry's response to the nation's mounting wave of foreclosures, said its members helped work out 1.04 million mortgage loans between July 1 and Jan. 31. The methods ranged from rescheduling borrowers' payments to easing the terms of their loans.

Most of those workouts -- 73% -- involved repayment plans that allow borrowers to catch up on missed payments or have those missed payments applied to the balance of their loan. About 27% were loan modifications, in which the original terms of the loan contract were changed, usually by reducing the interest rate, forgiving a portion of the principal or extending the maturity of the loan.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson greeted the report as evidence that "looking at the big picture, we're making progress." He also praised the industry for speeding the pace at which it is modifying troubled mortgages.