WASHINGTON–The number of mortgage loans in forbearance has hit another troubling high.
According to data released by the Mortgage Bankers Association, mortgages in forbearance in mortgage servicers' portfolios grew to 6.99%, up 16.7% from the the already high 5.99% one week earlier.
According to the MBA, that means approximately 3.5 million borrowers have been granted varying degrees of official relief from their respective lenders that will let them catch up with their payments later.
"Forbearance requests fell relative to the prior week but remain roughly 100 times greater than the early March baseline," MBA senior vice president and chief economist Mike Fratantoni said in the association’s Forbearance and Call Volume Survey report.
The number of loans in forbearance, not to mention the number of renters who have fallen behind on their payments, is expected to continue to grow as the number of jobless claims continues to rise. Over the past several weeks more than 30-million Americans have filed for unemployment.
According to the MBA data, by investor type, Ginnie Mae had the largest percentage of loans in forbearance at 9.73%. For government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it was 5.46%. Forbearances were at 7.87% for depository servicers, such as banks and credit unions, that are holding loans in their own portfolios, and 6.52% for independent mortgage bank servicers.
"For FHA and VA borrowers, the share of loans in forbearance is even higher, at 10%," Fratantoni said in the report.
FHFA Makes Moves
As CUToday.info has reported, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has made a series of moves to help troubled borrowers and the troubled housing market, including barring foreclosures on loans the GSEs back, allowing the GSEs to buy some mortgages already in forbearance, and requiring servicers to cover only four months of nonpayment by borrowers.
In addition, as CUToday.info also reported, the FHFA last week clarified that under the CARES Act borrowers are not required to catch up with their payments in one lump sum after their forbearance ends.
Franantoni said the MBA expects mortgages in forbearance will jump again in the next report.