Find out how many homeowners are enrolled in forbearance plans
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) monthly Loan Monitoring Survey, which covers 62% of the first-mortgage servicing market, revealed that the national mortgage forbearance rate saw a slight decrease, settling at 0.47% in December 2024.
This figure represents a three basis point reduction from November 2024 and translates to approximately 235,000 homeowners currently enrolled in forbearance plans.
The survey indicated that 54.5% of borrowers are in forbearance due to temporary hardships such as job loss, death, divorce, or disability, while 42.8% are in forbearance due to a natural disaster. Since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, mortgage servicers have provided forbearance to approximately 8.5 million borrowers.
Marina Walsh, MBA’s vice president of industry analysis, attributed the decrease to some borrowers regaining financial stability following severe weather events in the Southeast in the fall of 2024. However, Walsh also noted that the forbearance rate remains elevated compared to six months prior across all loan types, indicating a weakened performance in servicing portfolios and loan workouts. She further anticipated a potential rise in the forbearance share due to the California wildfires, as homeowners utilize this option to recover
Regional variations in the housing market further highlight the complex dynamics at play. For example, the New York metro foreclosure market experienced a 14% year-over-year decline in 2024, bringing the total number of first-time foreclosures to 6,221.
Real estate database and property research tool, Property Shark reported that this decrease, largely driven by a 20% drop in New Jersey, resulted in the region's foreclosure activity falling slightly below 2022 levels.
This overall slowdown was evident in 71% of the 24 counties analyzed, which recorded fewer first-time filings compared to 2023.
Within the New York metro area, certain locations exhibited divergent trends.
Suffolk County emerged as the metro’s most active foreclosure market with 933 first-time filings, accounting for 15% of the total. In contrast, Nassau County experienced the metro’s sharpest drop in first-time filings with a 43% year-over-year decrease. Significantly, Long Island, encompassing both Nassau and Suffolk Counties, recorded a combined 1,500 foreclosures in 2024, exceeding the combined total of both the Lower and Mid-Hudson Valley and the entirety of New York City.
New York City, specifically, saw its annual foreclosure caseload drop by 9% year-over-year, falling from its 2023 post-pandemic peak of 1,620 first-time filings to 1,475 cases in 2024.
Further illustrating these localized variations, the Bronx experienced the metro’s most significant increase in foreclosure activity, surging 76% year-over-year. Meanwhile, Hudson County was the only New Jersey market in the metro area to record an increase in foreclosures, rising 8% year-over-year.
What are your thoughts on the interplay of national trends, like the declining forbearance rate and regional variations? Share your opinion in the comments section.
