Shares of Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Decline to 0.94% as of April 30, 2022

According to the new monthly Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Loan Monitoring Survey (LMS), the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by -11 basis points from 1.05% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior month to 0.94% as of April 30, 2022. The MBA estimates that 470,000 homeowners remain in forbearance plans.

The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased -6 basis points to 0.43%. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased -11 basis points to 1.29%, and the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) declined -29 basis points to 2.15%.

In remarks prepared for the release of the April LMS, Marina Walsh, CMB, MBA’s Vice President of Industry Analysis, said:

“With the number of borrowers in forbearance decreasing to less than half a million, the pace of monthly forbearance exits reached its lowest level since MBA started tracking exits in June 2020. Servicers are expected to continue making small incremental inroads to the remaining loans in forbearance. In addition to improvement in the overall forbearance rate, the percentage of borrowers who were current on their mortgage payments increased to the highest level of 2022, despite potential headwinds such as high inflation and stock market volatility.

The best indicator of loan performance is overall national employment. The U.S. unemployment rate is still below 4 percent, leaving borrowers in a good position to make their monthly mortgage payments.”