While an estimated 2.3 million homeowners are in forbearance plans, the latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey [1] from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) [2] has found that the number of loans now in forbearance reached 4.50%, down 16 basis points from last week’s share of 4.66% of servicers’ portfolio volume.
By investor type, the share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased relative to the prior week, from 2.52% to 2.44%, and the number of Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance fell from 6.33% to 6.16%. The share of other loans (e.g., portfolio and PLS loans) in forbearance decreased relative to the prior week: from 8.65% to 8.34%. The percentage of loans in forbearance for independent mortgage bank (IMB) servicers decreased 17 basis points to 4.72%, and the percentage of loans in forbearance for depository servicers declined 13 basis points to 4.67%.
“The share of loans in forbearance decreased for the seventh straight week and has now dropped 40 basis points in the last two weeks. The forbearance share decreased for all three investor categories, with the rate for portfolio and PLS loans decreasing by 31 basis points this past week—the largest drop across investor categories,” said Mike Fratantoni [3], MBA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “Forbearance exits increased for portfolio and PLS loans, but decreased for GSE and Ginnie Mae loans. More than 36% of borrowers in forbearance extensions have now exceeded the 12-month mark.”
By stage, 13.1% of total loans in forbearance were in the initial forbearance plan stage, while 82.1% were in a forbearance extension. The remaining 4.8% are forbearance re-entries.
Servicer call centers found that the percentage of calls decreased from the previous week, from 8.5% to 7.9%, with the average call time coming in at exactly eight minutes
“Economic data on home construction [4] and consumer spending in March show a strong housing market and a quickened pace of economic activity [5],” said Fratantoni. “Combined with the homeowner assistance and stimulus payments that many households are receiving, we expect that the forbearance numbers will continue to decline in the months ahead, as more individuals regain employment. Homeowners who are still facing hardships and need to extend their forbearance term should contact their servicers.”