WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 21, 2020) — The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey revealed that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 8 basis points from 7.01% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 6.93% as of September 13, 2020. According to MBA’s estimate, 3.5 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.
The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance dropped for the 15th week in a row to 4.55% – a 10-basis-point improvement. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance increased 3 basis points to 9.15%, while the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) decreased by 19 basis points to 10.52%. The percentage of loans in forbearance for depository servicers decreased 7 basis points to 7.26%, and the percentage of loans in forbearance for independent mortgage bank (IMB) servicers decreased 3 basis points to 7.18%.
“The share of loans in forbearance has dropped to its lowest level in five months, driven by a consistent decline of the GSE share in forbearance,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “However, not only the did the share of Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance increase, new requests for forbearance for these loans have increased for two consecutive weeks. While housing market data continue to show a quite strong recovery, the job market recovery appears to have slowed, and we are seeing the impact of this slowdown on FHA and VA borrowers in the Ginnie Mae portfolio.”
Key findings of MBA's Forbearance and Call Volume Survey – September 7 to September 13, 2020
- Total loans in forbearance decreased by 8 basis points relative to the prior week: from 7.01% to 6.93%.
- By investor type, the share of Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance increased relative to the prior week: from 9.12% to 9.15%.
- The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased relative to the prior week: from 4.65% to 4.55%.
- The share of other loans (e.g., portfolio and PLS loans) in forbearance decreased relative to the prior week: from 10.71% to 10.52%.
- By stage, 31.65% of total loans in forbearance are in the initial forbearance plan stage, while 67.01% are in a forbearance extension. The remaining 1.34% are forbearance re-entries.
- Total weekly forbearance requests as a percent of servicing portfolio volume (#) decreased relative to the prior week: from 0.11% to 0.10%.
- Weekly servicer call center volume:
- As a percent of servicing portfolio volume (#), calls decreased from 8.7% to 6.9%.
- Average speed to answer increased from 3.3 minutes to 3.5 minutes.
- Abandonment rates decreased from 7.3% to 7.0%.
- Average call length increased from 7.7 minutes to 7.8 minutes.
- Loans in forbearance as a share of servicing portfolio volume (#) as of September 13, 2020:
- Total: 6.93% (previous week: 7.01%)
- IMBs: 7.26% (previous week: 7.33%)
- Depositories: 7.18% (previous week: 7.21%)
MBA’s latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey covers the period from September 7 through September 13, 2020, and represents 74% of the first-mortgage servicing market (37.2 million loans). To subscribe to the full report, go to www.mba.org/fbsurvey. If you are a mortgage servicer interested in participating in the survey, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..