The share of mortgage loans in COVID-19 forbearance plans increased to 8.55% as of June 7, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
That’s about 4.3 million homeowners.
The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance dropped by two basis points to 6.38%.
Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance held steady at a share of 11.83%, while the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) increased to 10.18%.
The percentage of loans in forbearance for depository servicers increased to 9.24%, and the percentage of loans in forbearance for independent mortgage bank (IMB) servicers increased to 8.43%.
“[The] MBA’s survey results from the first week of June showed a slight uptick in the overall share of loans in forbearance, but this increase was primarily driven by a larger share of portfolio and PLS loans in forbearance,” says Mike Fratantoni, senior vice president and chief economist for the MBA, in a statement. “Half of the servicers in our sample saw the forbearance share decline for at least one investor category. Although there continues to be layoffs, the job market does appear to be improving, and this is likely leading to many borrowers in forbearance deciding to opt out of their plan.
“With June mortgage payments due, servicers did report the first increase in forbearance requests in two months,” Fratantoni adds. “The level of forbearance requests is still quite low, but there was a noticeable increase in call volume over the course of the week.”
