Mortgage forbearances remain flat as pace of exits slow

An estimated 405,000 homeowners remain in forbearance plans as of June 30, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest loan monitoring survey.

The total number of loans in forbearance stayed relatively flat with just a -four-basis-point drop, down to 0.81% from 0.85% of servicers’ portfolio volume in May. About 30% of total loans in forbearance were in the initial stage, while 57.6% were in a forbearance extension. The remaining 12.6% were forbearance re-entries, including re-entries with extensions.

“Borrowers continue to exit forbearance, but at a much slower pace than six or nine months ago,” said Marina Walsh, MBA’s vice president of industry analysis. “New forbearance requests are still trickling in, as permitted under the CARES Act, resulting in very little movement in the overall percentage of loans in forbearance.”