Share of Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Decreases Slightly to .47% in December
Industry Update
January 21, 2025
Source: Mortgage Bankers Association
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) monthly Loan Monitoring Survey revealed that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 3 basis points from 0.50% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior month to 0.47% as of December 31, 2024. According to MBA’s estimate, 235,000 homeowners are in forbearance plans. Mortgage servicers have provided forbearance to approximately 8.5 million borrowers since March 2020.
The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased 2 basis points to 0.19% in December 2024. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased by 4 basis points to 1.07%, and the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) decreased 2 basis points to 0.40%.
“The overall mortgage forbearance rate decreased slightly in December as some borrowers got back on track following last fall’s severe weather in the Southeast,” said Marina Walsh, CMB, MBA’s Vice President of Industry Analysis. “Even with the slight decrease, the level of forbearance is higher than it was six months ago across all loan types and the performance of servicing portfolios and loan workouts has weakened.”
Added Walsh, “At year end, almost 43% of borrowers in forbearance were there due to a natural disaster. Given the disruption and devastation caused by the California wildfires, that share will likely move higher in the months ahead, as homeowners turn to forbearance to allow time to navigate their recovery process.
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