The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey revealed that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 8 basis points from 3.08% of servicers' portfolio volume in the prior week to 3.00% as of September 12, 2021. According to MBA's estimate, 1.5 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.
The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased 5 basis points to 1.47%. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance remained the same relative to the prior week at 3.39%, and the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) decreased 32 basis points to 6.95%. The percentage of loans in forbearance for independent mortgage bank (IMB) servicers decreased 8 basis point to 3.25%, and the percentage of loans in forbearance for depository servicers decreased 5 basis points to 3.10%.
"The share of loans in forbearance decreased by 8 basis points last week, as forbearance exits remained elevated, and new forbearance requests and re-entries were unchanged," said Mike Fratantoni, MBA's Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. "20% of loans in forbearance are either new forbearance requests or re-entries. 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."
Key findings of MBA's Forbearance and Call Volume Survey - September 6 to September 12, 2021
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Total loans in forbearance decreased by 8 basis points relative to the prior week: from 3.08% to 3.00%.
- By investor type, the share of Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance remained the same relative to the prior week at 3.39%.
- The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased relative to the prior week: from 1.52% to 1.47%.
- The share of other loans (e.g., portfolio and PLS loans) in forbearance decreased relative to the prior week: from 7.27% to 6.95%.
- By stage, 11.3% of total loans in forbearance are in the initial forbearance plan stage, while 80.2% are in a forbearance extension. The remaining 8.5% are forbearance re-entries.
- Total weekly forbearance requests as a percent of servicing portfolio volume (#) remained the same relative to the prior week at 0.05%.
- Of the cumulative forbearance exits for the period from June 1, 2020, through September 12, 2021, at the time of forbearance exit:
- 28.6% resulted in a loan deferral/partial claim.
- 21.9% represented borrowers who continued to make their monthly payments during their forbearance period.
- 16.4% represented borrowers who did not make all of their monthly payments and exited forbearance without a loss mitigation plan in place yet.
- 12.7% resulted in reinstatements, in which past-due amounts are paid back when exiting forbearance.
- 11.6% resulted in a loan modification or trial loan modification.
- 7.4% resulted in loans paid off through either a refinance or by selling the home.
- The remaining 1.4% resulted in repayment plans, short sales, deed-in-lieus or other reasons.
- Weekly servicer call center volume:
- As a percent of servicing portfolio volume (#), calls decreased relative to the prior week: from 7.7% to 6.3%.
- Average speed to answer increased from 1.6 minutes to 1.8 minutes.
- Abandonment rates increased from 4.0% to 4.8%.
- Average call length increased from 8.2 minutes to 8.3 minutes.
- Loans in forbearance as a share of servicing portfolio volume (#) as of September 12, 2021:
- Total: 3.00% (previous week: 3.08%)
- IMBs: 3.25% (previous week: 3.33%)
- Depositories: 3.10% (previous week: 3.15%)