Shares of Mortgages in Forbearance Decrease Slightly in Week Ending January 31st, 2021

The latest Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) Forbearance and Call Survey reports that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 3 basis points from 5.38% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 5.35% as of January 31, 2021. According to MBA’s estimate, 2.7 million homeowners are in forbearance plans. The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased to 3.07% – a 3-basis-point improvement. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased 5 basis points to 7.46%, while the forbearance shares for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) decreased by 2 basis points to 9.14%. The percentage of loans in forbearance for independent mortgage bank (IMB) servicers decreased 4 basis points to 5.73%, and the percentage of loans in forbearance for depository servicers decreased 1 basis point to 5.36%. Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist in a prepared statement said, “The job market rebounded slightly in January following a decline in December, but there are still 6.5% fewer jobs in the U.S. economy compared to February 2020. The proportion of long-term unemployed also remains troubling, with 4 million people who have been actively looking for work for 27 weeks or more. These are the homeowners who are likely to still be in forbearance and need additional support until the job market recovers to a greater extent.”