by Calculated Risk on 7/27/2020 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 Decreases for Sixth Straight Week to 7.74%

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey revealed that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 6 basis points from 7.80% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 7.74% as of July 19, 2020. According to MBA’s estimate, 3.9 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.
...
“The share of loans in forbearance declined by a smaller amount than in previous weeks, as the pace of borrowers exiting forbearance slowed,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “Although the GSE portfolio of loans in forbearance should continue to improve, Ginnie Mae’s portfolio saw an uptick of both loans in forbearance and borrowers requesting forbearance. The high level of unemployment claims in recent weeks may be playing a role, as weakness would likely impact Ginnie Mae’s portfolio first.”

Added Fratantoni, “As a result of large buyouts from Ginnie Mae pools in recent weeks, many FHA and VA loans are now being held as portfolio loans by bank servicers. That is why the share of portfolio loans in forbearance has increased and is now typically at a higher level than that for Ginnie Mae loans.”
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the percent of portfolio in forbearance by investor type over time.  Most of the increase was in late March and early April, and has been trending down for the last six weeks.

The MBA notes: "Total weekly forbearance requests as a percent of servicing portfolio volume (#) remained flat relative to the prior week at 0.13%. "