by Calculated Risk on 5/18/2020 04:00:00 PM

Note: To put these numbers in perspective, the MBA notes "For the week of March 2, only 0.25% of all loans were in forbearance."

From the MBA: Share of Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Increases to 8.16%

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey revealed that the total number of loans now in forbearance increased from 7.91% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 8.16% as of May 10, 2020. According to MBA’s estimate, 4.1 million homeowners are now in forbearance plans.
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“The pace of forbearance requests continued to slow in the second week of May, but the share of loans in forbearance increased,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “There has been a pronounced flattening in loans put into forbearance – despite April’s uniformly negative economic data, remarkably high unemployment, and it now being past May payment due dates. However, FHA and VA borrowers are more likely to be employed in the sectors hardest hit in this crisis, which is why more than 11 percent of Ginnie Mae loans are currently in forbearance.”

According to Fratantoni, record-low mortgages rates are sustaining the refinance wave, helping homeowners lower their mortgage payments and save money during these challenging times. Furthermore, the consecutive increase in purchase applications in the last four weeks is a sign that housing demand is strengthening as more states ease restrictions on activity and people get back to work.

Added Fratantoni, “We will continue to closely monitor the forbearance request and call volume data for any sign of an uptick, but current trends suggest that if the economy continues to gradually reopen, the situation could be stabilizing.”
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the weekly forbearance requests as a percent of servicer's portfolio volume.

The requests peaked in the week of March 30th to April 5th.

The MBA notes: "Forbearance requests as a percent of servicing portfolio volume (#) dropped across all investor types for the fifth consecutive week relative to the prior week: from 0.51% to 0.32%."