MBA: Share of Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Falls in April to 0.51%

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s monthly Loan Monitoring Survey reported loans in forbearance decreased by 4 basis points to 0.51% of servicers’ portfolio volume as of April 30 from 0.55% in March.

MBA estimates 255,000 homeowners are in forbearance plans. Mortgage servicers have provided forbearance to 7.8 million borrowers since April 2020.

The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance in April decreased by 2 basis points to 0.24%. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased by 7 basis points to 1.11%, while the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities decreased by 7 basis points to 0.61%.

“While the number of loans in forbearance continues to dwindle, there was some deterioration in the performance of post-forbearance workouts,” said Marina Walsh, CMB, MBA Vice President of Industry Analysis. “Three out of four borrowers are remaining current on their post-forbearance workouts, but this is down from the average of four out of five borrowers that was relatively consistent in 2022 and into 2023.” 

Walsh noted overall servicing portfolios remain healthy, and some of the worsening monthly performance can be attributed to seasonal factors such as tax refunds that pushed up the March results and then normalized in April.  “MBA’s forecast calls for an economic slowdown and an increase in unemployment later this year and into 2024, which will impact loan performance,” she said.    

Key Findings of the MBA Loan Monitoring Survey – April 1 – 30

• Total loans in forbearance decreased by 4 basis points in April 2023 relative to March 2023: from 0.55% to 0.51%.
  • By investor type, the share of Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased relative to the prior month: from 1.18% to 1.11%.The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased from 0.26% to 0.24%.
  • The share of other loans (e.g., portfolio and PLS loans) in forbearance decreased from 0.68% to 0.61%.
• Loans in forbearance as a share of servicing portfolio volume (#) as of April 30:
  • Total: 0.51% (previous month: 0.55%)Independent Mortgage Banks (IMBs): 0.68% (previous month: 0.74%)
  • Depositories: 0.35% (previous month: 0.36%)
• By stage, 34.4% of total loans in forbearance are in the initial forbearance plan stage, while 53.2% are in a forbearance extension. The remaining 12.4% are forbearance re-entries, including re-entries with extensions.
• Of the cumulative forbearance exits for the period from June 1, 2020, through April 30, 2023, at the time of forbearance exit:
  • 29.6% resulted in a loan deferral/partial claim.
  • 18.0% represented borrowers who continued to make their monthly payments during their forbearance period.
  • 17.7% represented borrowers who did not make all of their monthly payments and exited forbearance without a loss mitigation plan in place yet.
  • 16.1% resulted in a loan modification or trial loan modification.
  • 10.9% resulted in reinstatements, in which past-due amounts are paid back when exiting forbearance.
  • 6.5% resulted in loans paid off through either a refinance or by selling the home.
  • The remaining 1.2% resulted in repayment plans, short sales, deed-in-lieus or other reasons.
• Total loans serviced that were current (not delinquent or in foreclosure) as a percent of servicing portfolio volume (#) decreased to 95.89% in April from 96.35% in March (on a non-seasonally adjusted basis).
  • States with the highest share of loans that were current as a percent of servicing portfolio: Washington, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon and California.
  • States with the lowest share of loans that were current as a percent of servicing portfolio: Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, Indiana and Alabama.
• Total completed loan workouts from 2020 and onward (repayment plans, loan deferrals/partial claims, loan modifications) that were current as a percent of total completed workouts decreased to 74.39% in April from 76.70% the previous month.

MBA’s monthly Loan Monitoring Survey (replaced MBA’s Weekly Forbearance and Call Volume Survey in November 2021) represents 65% of the first-mortgage servicing market (32.7 million loans). To subscribe to the full report, go to www.mba.org/loanmonitoring.

NOTES: For more detailed information on performance metrics, including seasonally adjusted delinquency rates by stage (30 days, 60 days, 90+ days), please refer to MBA’s Quarterly National Delinquency Survey at www.mba.org/nds. First-quarter results were released on Thursday, May 11.