The Mortgage Bankers Association’s most recent Forbearance and Call Volume Survey shows that the total number of loans now in forbearance remained unchanged relative to the prior week, at 5.53%, as of Dec. 27.
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 3.24% – a 2-basis-point improvement. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance increased 5 basis points, to 7.92%, while the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) decreased by 2 basis points, to 8.87%.
The percentage of loans in forbearance for independent mortgage bank (IMB) servicers decreased 3 basis points from the previous week, to 6.01%, and the percentage of loans in forbearance for depository servicers increased 1 basis point, to 5.44%.
“The share of loans in forbearance remained relatively unchanged in the final two weeks of 2020, maintaining the trend of hovering around 5.5 percent for the last two months. However, the share for Ginnie Mae loans continues to inch up and is now at its highest level since the week of November 1st,” says the MBA’s Mike Fratantoni. “Forbearance requests and exits both slowed markedly, and servicer call volume dropped sharply over the holidays.
“While the increasing number of COVID-19 cases continues to slow economic activity, the passed stimulus legislation should provide financial support for many households as the vaccine rollout commences,” he adds.
By stage, 18.27% of total loans in forbearance are in the initial forbearance plan stage, while 79.61% are in a forbearance extension. The remaining 2.11% are forbearance re-entries.
Total weekly forbearance requests as a percent of servicing portfolio volume (#) decreased relative to the prior week, from 0.10% to 0.06% – the lowest level since the week ending March 15.
Photo: Mike Fratantoni
