Black Knight: Number of Homeowners in COVID-19-Related Forbearance Plans Decreased

Note: Both Black Knight and the MBA (Mortgage Bankers Association) are putting out weekly estimates of mortgages in forbearance.

This data is as of August 31st.

From Andy Walden at Black Knight: Forbearances Tick Down, With All Eyes on September Exits

The final week of August brought a 53,000 decline in the number of active forbearance plans, driven by a 23,000 reduction in plans among FHA/VA loans. Plan volumes also improved from the week prior among both GSE (-20,000) and portfolio/PLS (-10,000) loans.

According to Black Knight’s McDash Flash forbearance tracker, as of August 31, 1.71 million borrowers remain in COVID-19 related forbearance plans, including 1.8% of GSE, 5.6% of FHA/VA and 4.0% of portfolio held and privately securitized mortgages.

This puts plan volumes down nearly 9% (-168,000) from the same time last month as the market braces for the large wave of final plan expirations taking place in September. Of the 629,000 plans slated to be reviewed for extension/removal this month, nearly 400,000 are set to reach their final plan expirations based on current allowable forbearance term lengths.

Click on graph for larger image.

Significant volume declines could be seen in coming weeks as those plans reach their final expirations and exiting borrowers return to making mortgage payments in October.
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