According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Foreclosure Prevention, Refinance, and Federal Property Manager's Report [1] for April 2023, the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) completed 16,132 foreclosure prevention actions in April, bringing the total to 6,787,233 since the start of the conservatorships in September 2008. Of those actions, approximately 39% have been permanent loan modifications.
The FHFA reported that there were 4,441 permanent loan modifications in April, bringing the total to 2,645,092 since the conservatorships began in September 2008.
Approximately 77% of loan modifications in April involved extend term only. Modifications with principal forbearance accounted for 18% of all loan modifications during the month.
The number of borrowers who received payment deferrals after completing a COVID-19 related forbearance plan decreased 14% from 8,741 in March to 7,510 in April 2023.
According to the Report [1], initiated forbearance plans dropped from 10,790 in March to 9,220 in April 2023. The total number of loans in forbearance also decreased from 65,757 at the end of March to 61,317 at the end of April, representing approximately 0.20% of the total loans serviced and 12% of the total delinquent loans.
Third-party and foreclosure sales decreased 2% in April to 1,188, while foreclosure starts dropped 17% to 5,604 in April.
The 30-59 days delinquency rate increased to 0.91%, while the serious delinquency rate declined to 0.59% at the end of April.
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported in its latest Loan Monitoring Survey [2] for the month of May 2023 that the total number of loans now in forbearance nationwide decreased by two basis points from 0.51% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior month to 0.49% as of May 31, 2023. The MBA estimates that 245,000 homeowners are in forbearance plans, and that servicers have provided forbearance opportunities to approximately 7.9 million borrowers since March 2020.
“The number of loans in forbearance is reaching levels not seen since the beginning of March 2020, prior to the passage of the CARES Act,” said Marina B. Walsh, CMB, MBA’s VP of Industry Analysis [3]. “Today, more than 96% of homeowners are current on their mortgages, thanks to the favorable jobs market and the success of loss mitigation options over the past three years.”