The share of mortgage loans in forbearance stood at 0.47% as of December 31, a decrease of 3 basis points compared with .50% as of the end of November, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) monthly Loan Monitoring Survey.
Roughly 235,000 homeowners are currently in forbearance plans, according to the MBA’s data.
Mortgage servicers have provided forbearance to approximately 8.5 million borrowers since March 2020.
The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased 2 basis points to 0.19% in December.
Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased by 4 basis points to 1.07%, and the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) decreased 2 basis points to 0.40%.
“The overall mortgage forbearance rate decreased slightly in December as some borrowers got back on track following last fall’s severe weather in the Southeast,” says Marina Walsh, CMB, vice president of industry analysis for the MBA, in a statement. “Even with the slight decrease, the level of forbearance is higher than it was six months ago across all loan types and the performance of servicing portfolios and loan workouts has weakened.”
“At year end, almost 43 percent of borrowers in forbearance were there due to a natural disaster,” Walsh adds “Given the disruption and devastation caused by the California wildfires, that share will likely move higher in the months ahead, as homeowners turn to forbearance to allow time to navigate their recovery process.”
The five states with the highest share of loans that were current as a percent of servicing portfolio included Washington, Idaho, Alaska, Oregon, and Colorado.
The five states with the lowest share of loans that were current as a percent of servicing portfolio included Alabama, West Virginia, Indiana, Mississippi and Louisiana.
Total completed loan workouts from 2020 and onward (repayment plans, loan deferrals/partial claims, loan modifications) that were current as a percent of total completed workouts decreased to 65.39% in December 2024, down 88 basis points from 66.27% the prior month and down 900 basis points from one year ago.
Photo: Toa Heftiba
