As Expiration Dates Draw Near, Number of Borrowers Exiting Forbearance Increases During the Week Ending September 12, 2021

The latest Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) Forbearance and Call Survey reports that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 8 basis points from 3.08% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 3.00% as of September 12, 2021. According to MBA’s estimate, 1.5 million homeowners are in forbearance plans. The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased 5 basis points to 1.47%. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance remained the same relative to the prior week at 3.39%, and the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) decreased 32 basis points to 6.95%. The percentage of loans in forbearance for independent mortgage bank (IMB) servicers decreased 8 basis point to 3.25%, and the percentage of loans in forbearance for depository servicers decreased 5 basis points to 3.10%.

In a statement prepared for the release of this week’s forbearance survey, Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist said, “The share of loans in forbearance decreased by 8 basis points last week, as forbearance exits remained elevated and new forbearance requests and re-entries were unchanged. 20% of loans in forbearance are either new forbearance requests or re-entries. At this point, borrowers in forbearance extensions are exiting at a faster rate as they near — or reach — the expiration of their maximum forbearance term.”