FHA/VA forbearances increased by 11,000 from the week prior, with portfolio/PLS forbearances increasing by 4,000, while GSE forbearance volumes remained flat. The increase was primarily the result of limited forbearance plan removal activity, with removals falling to their lowest level since the start of the pandemic (likely due, at least in part, to the holiday week).

On a bright note, forbearance plan starts also hit their lowest level since the start of the pandemic, a number also likely impacted by the holidays. Start volumes have now fallen in each of the last three weeks.

Despite three consecutive weekly rises, the number of active plans only stands 13,000 higher than the same point last month, and with nearly 270,000 forbearance plans still set to expire at the end of December, it’s possible that we could see an inflow of forbearance plan removals over the first week of January.

As of Dec. 29, some 2.83 million (5.3% of) homeowners remain in COVID-19-related forbearance plans, including 3.5% (964,000) of GSE mortgages, 9.6% (1.16 million) of FHA/VA loans and 5.4% (700,000) of portfolio-held and privately securitized loans.