Borrowers Exiting Forbearance Continued to Increase in the Week Ending September 26, 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 2.96% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 2.89% as of September 26, 2021. According to MBA’s estimate, 1.4 million homeowners are in forbearance plans. The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased 6 basis points to 1.38%. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased 7 basis points to 3.35%, and the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) decreased 14 basis points to 6.77%. The percentage of loans in forbearance for independent mortgage bank (IMB) servicers decreased 5 basis points relative to the prior week to 3.19%, and the percentage of loans in forbearance for depository servicers decreased 13 basis points to 2.93%.

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 declined at a faster rate last week, dropping by 7 basis points as exits increased and new requests and re-entries declined. While 1.4 million homeowners remained in forbearance as of September 26th, this number is expected to drop sharply over the next few weeks as many are reaching the 18-month expiration point of their forbearance terms. Most borrowers exiting forbearance through a workout are opting for a deferral plan, which allows them to resume their original payment, while moving the forborne amount to the end of the loan.”

Fratantoni added, “Although call volume dropped in the last week of September, we expect that servicers will be very busy through October.”