MBA survey finds loans in forbearance remain unchanged in March

The total number of loans now in forbearance remained unchanged in March, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) monthly Loan Monitoring Survey.

According to the report, 110,000 homeowners, or 0.22 percent, are in forbearance plans. Further, the share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance remained at 0.12 percent, while Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance stayed at 0.40 percent. Also, the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) increased 2 basis points to 0.31 percent.

“For the past three months, the number of loans in forbearance has held steady,” Marina Walsh, MBA’s vice president of industry analysis, said. “The current labor market is showing resilience, minimizing the need for mortgage forbearance. However, life events and temporary hardships still happen, regardless of employment conditions, which may explain why we have reached a floor in the forbearance rate.”

The report found that 75.2 percent of borrowers are in forbearance for reasons such as a temporary hardship caused by job loss, death, divorce, or disability while 13.2 percent of borrowers are in forbearance because of COVID-19. Further, another 11.6 percent are in forbearance because of a natural disaster.

In addition, it revealed that 57.2 percent of total loans in forbearance are in the initial forbearance plan stage, while 25.7 percent are in a forbearance extension. The remaining 17.1 percent are forbearance re-entries, including re-entries with extensions.

Also, total loans serviced that were current – that is, not delinquent or in foreclosure – increased to 95.92 percent in March, up 19 basis points from February 2024 but down 43 basis points compared to one year ago.

The five states with the highest share of loans that were current as a percent of servicing portfolio are Idaho, Colorado, Washington, California, and Montana. The five states with the lowest share of loans that were current as a percent of servicing portfolio are Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, New York, and Illinois.

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