Forbearances Fell 11% In January, But New Requests Are Rising
The number of loans in forbearance fell 11% in January to 1.30% of servicers’ portfolio volume, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Loan Monitoring Survey. MBA now estimates that 650,000 homeowners remain in forbearance plans. This is the second consecutive month that forbearance exits hit a new low since June 2020. Of Fannie and Freddie loans, the number in forbearance dropped 4 basis points to 0.68%. Ginnie Mae loans saw a 3 basis point drop to 1.60%, while PLS and portfolio loans saw a 41 point decline to 3.02%. But re-entries and new forbearance requests rose, especially for Ginnie Mae loans. While forbearances keep falling, January saw the smallest monthly decline in a year. Of all forborne loans, 26.8%…