Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Remains Unchanged in Late January

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 5.38% of servicers' portfolio volume as of January 24, 2021. The MBA's estimate, 2.7 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.

The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased to 3.10% - a 1-basis-point improvement. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased 10 basis points to 7.51%, while the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) increased by 22 basis points to 9.16%. The percentage of loans in forbearance for independent mortgage bank (IMB) servicers decreased 2 basis points to 5.77%, and the percentage of loans in forbearance for depository servicers increased 1 basis point to 5.37%.

"The share of loans in forbearance was unchanged in the prior week, with a gain in the portfolio/PLS loan segment offset by declines in the Ginnie Mae and GSE investor loan categories. When servicers buy out delinquent loans from Ginnie Mae pools, they are reclassified as portfolio loans, which can lead to a decrease in the Ginnie Mae forbearance share and an increase in the portfolio/PLS share," said Mike Fratantoni, MBA's Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. "While new forbearance requests dropped slightly, the rate of exits from forbearance was at the slowest pace since MBA began tracking exit data last summer."

Fratantoni added, "Overall, the forbearance numbers have been little changed over the past few months. Homeowners still in forbearance are likely facing ongoing challenges with lost jobs, lost income, and other impacts from the pandemic."