Report reveals latest forbearance figures
More borrowers have moved out of their forbearance plans and into permanent loan workout solutions as temporary mortgage payment relief reaches its expiration date.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest survey showed that the total number of loans currently in forbearance fell by 39 basis points from 2.06% of servicers’ portfolio volume in October to 1.67% at the end of November. MBA estimates that 835,000 homeowners are still in forbearance.
“The share of loans in forbearance in November declined – albeit at a slower pace than October,” said Marina Walsh, vice president of industry analysis at MBA. “More borrowers were current on their mortgage payments in November compared to October.”
Walsh noted that this coincides with the continued improvement in the labor market, with wage growth rising and the unemployment rate dropping to 4.2%.
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“While there was some deterioration in the performance of borrowers in post-forbearance workouts, four out of five overall remained current through November,” she said.
On a non-adjusted basis, total loans that were current as a percent of servicing portfolio volume edged up to 94.58% in November from 94.32% in the previous month. Meanwhile, the number of completed loan workouts from 2020 and onward (repayment plans, loan deferrals/partial claims, loan modifications) that were current as a part of total completed workouts declined to 83.7% from 84%.
The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage loans in forbearance was down by 16 basis points to 0.76%, and Ginnie Mae loan forbearances posted a 42-basis-point decrease to 2.10%. The forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) declined by 106 basis points to 3.94%.
