The number of US mortgages in forbearance dropped to 2.6 million last week after holding steady for several weeks, according to the weekly report released Tuesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The weekly survey found:
- The percentgage of loans in forbearance decreased from 5.35 percent to 5.29 percent as of February 7.
- The share of Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased from 7.46 percent to 7.34 percent.
- The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased from 3.07 percent to 3.01 percent.
“The share of loans in forbearance declined to the lowest level since April 5th of last year, due to decreases in both the GSE and Ginnie Mae portfolios,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “Similar to the trend in recent months, the first week of February showed a faster pace of exits from forbearance compared to recent weeks, while new forbearance requests were unchanged.”