MBA: Loans in Forbearance Fall Under 3%

Loans in forbearance fell to under 3 percent for the first time since March 2020, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Monday.

The latest MBA Forbearance and Call Volume Survey reported loans now in forbearance decreased by 4 basis points to 2.96% of servicers’ portfolio volume as of Sept. 19 from 3.00% the prior week. MBA estimates 1.5 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.

The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased by 3 basis points to 1.44%. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance increased by 3 basis points to 3.42%, while the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities decreased by 4 basis points to 6.91%. The percentage of loans in forbearance for independent mortgage bank servicers decreased by 1 basis point to 3.24%, while the percentage of loans in forbearance for depository servicers decreased by 4 basis points to 3.06%.

“There was a slight increase in the forbearance share for Ginnie Mae loans, and this increase was seen for both depository and IMB servicers,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “New forbearance requests and re-entries continue to run at a higher rate for Ginnie Mae loans as well as for portfolio and PLS loans, which include many delinquent FHA, VA and USDA loans that have been bought out of Ginnie Mae pools.”

Key findings of MBA’s Forbearance and Call Volume Survey – September 13 – 19

• Total loans in forbearance decreased by 4 basis points from 3.00% to 2.96%.
o By investor type, the share of Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance increased from 3.39% to 3.42%.
o The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased from 1.47% to 1.44%.
o The share of other loans (e.g., portfolio and PLS loans) in forbearance decreased from 6.95% to 6.91%.

• By stage, 12% of total loans in forbearance are in the initial forbearance plan stage, while 79.3% are in a forbearance extension. The remaining 8.7% are forbearance re-entries.

• Total weekly forbearance requests as a percent of servicing portfolio volume (#) remained unchanged at 0.05%.

• Of the cumulative forbearance exits for the period from June 1, 2020, through September 19, 2021, at the time of forbearance exit:
o 28.7% resulted in a loan deferral/partial claim.
o 21.8% represented borrowers who continued to make their monthly payments during their forbearance period.
o 16.3% represented borrowers who did not make all of their monthly payments and exited forbearance without a loss mitigation plan in place yet.
o 12.7% resulted in reinstatements, in which past-due amounts are paid back when exiting forbearance.
o 11.8% resulted in a loan modification or trial loan modification.
o 7.4% resulted in loans paid off through either a refinance or by selling the home.
o The remaining 1.4% resulted in repayment plans, short sales, deed-in-lieus or other
reasons.

• Weekly servicer call center volume:
o As a percent of servicing portfolio volume (#), calls increased from 6.3% to 7.9%.
o Average speed to answer decreased from 1.8 minutes to 1.7 minutes.
o Abandonment rates decreased from 4.8% to 4.5%.
o Average call length decreased from 8.3 minutes to 8.2 minutes.

• Loans in forbearance as a share of servicing portfolio volume (#) as of September 19:
o Total: 2.96% (previous week: 3.00%)
o IMBs: 3.24% (previous week: 3.25%)
o Depositories: 3.06% (previous week: 3.10%)

MBA’s Forbearance and Call Volume Survey represents 74% of the first-mortgage servicing market (36.8 million loans). To subscribe to the full report, go to www.mba.org/fbsurvey.

If you are a mortgage servicer interested in participating in the survey, email fbsurvey@mba.org.