The total number of mortgages in forbearance grew by more than a percentage point over the past week as coronavirus-related unemployment claims increased, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.
As of April 19, 6.99% of all outstanding mortgages were in forbearance, compared with 5.95%
"Forbearance requests fell relative to the prior week, but remain roughly 100 times greater than the early March baseline," said MBA Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni in a press release. During the week of March 2 — before the coronavirus outbreak started a proliferation of stay-at-home orders across the country — only 0.25% of all mortgages were in forbearance status.
"While the pace of job losses have slowed from the astronomical heights of just a few weeks ago, millions of people continue to
Forbearance requests as a percentage of portfolio volume declined 65 basis points to 1.14% from 1.79% the previous week. But call center volume as a percentage of portfolio volume increased to 10% this past week from 8.8% for the week ended April 12.
By investor type,
There were 5.46% of conforming mortgages, those purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in forbearance as of April 19, up from 4.64% the previous week.
Meanwhile, 7.52% of private-label securities and portfolio loans — products which were not addressed by the coronavirus relief act — were in forbearance, compared with 6.43% one week prior.
There were 53 servicers in this week's survey, 29 independent mortgage bankers, 22 depositories and two subservicers. By unit count, the respondents represented more than three-quarters of the outstanding first-lien mortgages, MBA said.