Federal Housing Agency Director Reports to U.S. Senators that Mortgage Forbearance Rate is Manageable

In testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday June 9^th,  Mark Calabria, the director of the Federal Housing Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, said that forbearance rates for the GSEs, which back more than half of the U.S. mortgages, have plateaued at ~6.6%, which he told senators was ‘manageable’. Calabria went onto to the senators “We’ve seen over the last few weeks those numbers start to stabilize. Within the GSE portfolio, you see as many borrowers canceling their forbearance programs as you see rolling on.” “I certainly over the last few months have been concerned about what the direction of the housing market would be coming out of COVID-19,” Calabria said. “I’ve been very pleasantly surprised.”