The share of mortgages in forbearance in the United States dipped further below 5 percent at the end of March, with 4.9 percent of borrowers still pausing their payments, according to a new survey released Monday by the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Roughly 2.5 million homeowners remain in forbearance plans as of March 28 – with the total share dropping from 4.96 percent to 4.9 percent.
The survey also found:
- The share of Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased from 6.83 percent to 6.78 percent.
- The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased from 2.77 percent to 2.72 percent.
- 5.18 percent of independent mortgage bank-managed mortgages are in forbearance, down from 5.23 percent.
- 5.03 percent of bank-manage mortgages are in forbearance, down from 5.10 percent the week before.
“The share of loans in forbearance decreased for the fifth straight week, and new forbearance requests dropped to their lowest level since March 2020. The share of loans in forbearance also decreased for all three investor categories,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist.