Servicers’ forbearance portfolio volume fell once again last week, as exits remained elevated compared to requests or re-entries. The total number of loans in forbearance dropped by eight basis points to 3.00% as of Sept. 12, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).      

The most notable decline was in the portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) category, dipping by 32 basis points to 6.95%. 

Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance remained the same, at 3.39% of servicers‘ portfolio volume, after a decline of 24 bps in the prior week. Meanwhile, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans dropped by five basis points to 1.47%.

The share of independent mortgage bank loans in forbearance fell 8 basis points to 3.25%. For depository servicers, the percentage declined five basis points to 3.10%.

Per the MBA’s estimate, 1.5 million homeowners are still in active forbearance plans. The survey included data on 36.8 million loans serviced as of Sept. 12, 74% of the first-mortgage servicing market.


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Mike Fratantoni, senior vice president and chief economist at the MBA, said in a statement that forbearance exits remained elevated last week, while new requests and re-entries were unchanged, representing 20% of loans in forbearance.

“At this point, borrowers in forbearance extensions are exiting at a faster rate as they near – or reach – the expiration of their maximum forbearance term.”

Total requests remained at 0.05% of servicing portfolio volume, while exits represented 0.16% of the total, the report said.

During the last 15 months, MBA’s data revealed that almost 29% of exits resulted in a loan deferral or partial claim. Also, around 22% represented borrowers who continued to pay during the forbearance period.

However, 16.4% were borrowers who did not make their monthly payments and did not have a loss mitigation plan.

The survey shows that 11.3% of total loans were in the initial stage last week, and 80.2% were in a forbearance extension. The remaining 8.5% were re-entries.

Servicer call volume decreased to 6.3%, down from 7.7% the week prior. The average call length was slightly prolonged, from 8.2 minutes to 8.3 minutes.

The post Forbearance numbers fall as borrower exits remain high appeared first on HousingWire.

Forbearance numbers fall as borrower exits remain high
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