The share of mortgages in forbearance dropped slightly for the third straight week, with 4.2 million homeowners in the United States now pausing making payments on their home loans.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey released Tuesday found that the share of loans in forbearance the week ending June 28 dropped to 8.39 percent from 8.49 percent.
“We learned last week that the job market improved more than expected in June. With that as background, it is not surprising that the forbearance numbers continue to improve as more people go back to their jobs,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “The improvement in the forbearance data was broad-based, with declines for both GSE and Ginnie Mae loans. The decrease in new forbearance requests indicates that further declines are likely in the weeks ahead.”
The CARES Act includes a moratorium on foreclosures and the right to forbearance on federally backed mortgages. Forbearance allows borrowers to put off payments for at least 180 days if they suffer economic hardship during the pandemic.
The survey found:
- The share of Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased from 11.83 percent to 11.72 percent.
- The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased from 6.26 percent to 6.17 percent.
- Mortgages managed by banks dropped from 9.09 percent to 9.03 percent.
- Mortgages managed by independent mortgage banks dropped from 8.42 percent to 8.33 percent.
See the full report here.