The share of mortgages in forbearance decreased by 1 basis point during the week ended July 25, reaching 3.47% of servicers’ portfolio volume, down from 3.48% the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Forbearance and Call Volume Survey.
About 1.74 million homeowners remained in forbearance plans, with foreclosure moratoriums expected to expire on July 31, unless extended retroactively.
The eviction moratorium for foreclosures in process (REO) has been extended by the federal housing agencies and the GSEs to Sept. 30.
During the week ended July 25, the share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased 2 basis points to 1.79%.
Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased 5 basis points to 4.30%, while the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) increased 6 basis points to 7.44%.
The percentage of loans in forbearance for independent mortgage bank (IMB) servicers decreased 1 basis point to 3.67%, and the percentage of loans in forbearance for depository servicers decreased 2 basis points to 3.59%.
“Forbearance exits remained low, and there was another increase in new forbearance requests, particularly for Ginnie Mae and portfolio and PLS loans,” says Mike Fratantoni, senior vice president and chief economist for the MBA, in a statement. “The net result was another slight decline in the share of loans in forbearance.
“While the overall number of loans in forbearance has changed little in recent weeks, forbearance re-entries have increased, reaching 7.2 percent this week,” Fratantoni says. “Recent economic data continue to show improvement, but it’s clear many homeowners in forbearance still need the relief that is being provided.”
Photo: Michal Matlon
