The Share of Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Drops to 5.90% in Weekending October 18th, 2020

The latest Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) Forbearance and Call Survey reports that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 2 basis points from 5.92% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 5.90%, as of October 18, 2020. According to MBA’s estimate, 3.0 million homeowners are in forbearance plans. The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance dropped for the 20th week in a row to 3.72% – a 5-basis-point improvement. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance increased 3 basis points to 8.17%, and the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) increased by 4 basis points to 8.90%. The percentage of loans in forbearance for independent mortgage bank (IMB) servicers increased 2 basis points to 6.35%, while the percentage of loans in forbearance for depository servicers decreased 7 basis points to 5.86%. Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist in a prepared statement said, “There continues to be a steady improvement for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans, but the forbearance share for Ginnie Mae, portfolio, and PLS loans all increased. This is further evidence of the unevenness in the current economic recovery. The housing market is booming, as shown by the extremely strong pace of home sales last week. However, many homeowners continue to struggle, as the pace of the job market’s improvement has waned.”