Shares of Mortgages in Forbearance Increase Slightly in Week Ending January 17th, 2021

The latest Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) Forbearance and Call Survey reports that the total number of loans now in forbearance increased slightly from 5.37% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 5.38% as of January 17, 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 3.11% – a 2-basis-point improvement. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased 6 basis points to 7.61%, while the forbearance shares for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) increased by 26 basis points to 8.94%. The percentage of loans in forbearance for independent mortgage bank (IMB) servicers remained unchanged relative to the prior week at 5.79%, and the percentage of loans in forbearance for depository servicers increased 3 basis points to 5.36%. Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist in a prepared statement said, “The small increase in the share of loans in forbearance was led by a gain in the portfolio/PLS loan segment. The good news is that the forbearance numbers for GSE loans continues to decline more consistently, as these borrowers typically have stronger credit and more stable employment. The rate of exits from forbearance slowed in the prior week, while the rate of new forbearance requests remained steady at a low level.”