The Share of Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Drops to 5.83% in Weekending October 25th, 2020

The latest Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) Forbearance and Call Survey reports the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 7 basis points from 5.90% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 5.83% as of October 25, 2020. According to MBA’s estimate, 2.9 million homeowners are in forbearance plans. The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance dropped for the 21st week in a row to 3.66% – a 6-basis-point improvement. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased 4 basis points to 8.13%, and the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) decreased by 8 basis points to 8.82%. The percentage of loans in forbearance for independent mortgage bank (IMB) servicers decreased 8 basis points to 6.27%, while the percentage of loans in forbearance for depository servicers remained unchanged from the previous week at 5.86%. Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist in a prepared statement said, “With more borrowers exiting forbearance in the prior week, the share of loans in forbearance declined across all loan types. Almost half of forbearance exits to date have been from borrowers who remained current while in forbearance, or who were reinstated by paying back past-due amounts. The share of loans in forbearance has returned to levels last seen in early April, but it still remains remarkably high. Further improvement will require ongoing recovery in the job market, as well as additional fiscal stimulus.”