After Two Weeks of Accelerated Declines, Forbearance Rate Slows in Week Ending October 17, 2021

The latest Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) Forbearance and Call Survey reports that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 7 basis points from 2.28% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 2.21% as of October 17, 2021. According to MBA’s estimate, 1.1 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.

The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased 5 basis points to 1.00%. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased 5 basis points to 2.72%, and the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) declined 13 basis points to 5.21%.

The percentage of loans in forbearance for independent mortgage bank (IMB) servicers decreased 8 basis points relative to the prior week to 2.49%, and the percentage of loans in forbearance for depository servicers decreased 5 basis points to 2.11%.

In remarks prepared for the release of this week’s forbearance survey, Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist said, “Following two weeks of rapid declines, the share of loans in forbearance dropped again but at a reduced rate. As reported in the past, many servicers process forbearance exits at the beginning of the month, therefore it is not surprising to see the pace of exits slow again mid-month. The composition of loans in forbearance is evolving. More than 25% of loans in forbearance are now made up of new forbearance requests and re-entries, while many other homeowners who have reached the end of 18-month terms are successfully exiting into deferrals or modifications.”