Share of U.S. Mortgages in Forbearance Remains Flat in Late August

The Mortgage Bankers Association's latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey revealed that the total number of loans now in forbearance remained unchanged relative to the prior week at 7.20% as of August 23, 2020. According to MBA's estimate, 3.6 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.

The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance dropped for the 12th week in a row to 4.88% - a 5-basis-point improvement. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance increased by 4 basis points to 9.58%, while the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) increased by 7 basis points to 10.44%. The percentage of loans in forbearance for depository servicers increased to 7.49%, and the percentage of loans in forbearance for independent mortgage bank (IMB) servicers decreased to 7.41%.

"The share of loans in forbearance was unchanged, as the decline in the share of GSE loans was offset by increases for Ginnie Mae, and portfolio and PLS loans. The pace of new forbearance requests has been relatively flat across investor types, but for those with GSE loans, the rate of exits from forbearance regularly exceeds the rate of new requests," said Mike Fratantoni, MBA's Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. "The exception in these trends are borrowers with Ginnie Mae loans. The loss of enhanced unemployment insurance benefits, coupled with a consistently high rate of layoffs and uncertainty about the job market, are having a disproportionate impact on FHA and VA borrowers."