by Calculated Risk on 3/29/2021 04:00:00 PM

Note: This is as of March 21st.

From the MBA: Share of Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Decreases to 4.96%

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey revealed that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 9 basis points from 5.05% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 4.96% as of March 21, 2021. According to MBA’s estimate, 2.5 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.
...
“The share of loans in forbearance decreased for the fourth straight week, dropping below 5 percent for the first time in a year. New forbearance requests remained at their lowest level since last March, and the pace of exits increased,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “More than 17 percent of borrowers in forbearance extensions have now exceeded the 12-month mark.”

Fratantoni added, “Many homeowners need this support, even as there are increasing signs that the pace of economic activity is picking up as the vaccine rollout continues. Those who have an ongoing hardship due to the pandemic and want to extend their forbearance beyond the 12-month point need to contact their servicer. Servicers cannot automatically extend forbearance terms without the borrower’s consent.”
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 trended down since then.

The MBA notes: "Total weekly forbearance requests as a percent of servicing portfolio volume (#) remained flat relative to the prior week at 0.05%, the lowest level since the week ending March 15, 2020."