Mid-November Forbearance Exits Low and Slow

In what has become a familiar pattern, the number of active forbearance plans held relatively steady entering the third week of November.

According to our McDash Flash daily forbearance tracking dataset, the number of active forbearance plans increased by 2,000 (0.2%) this week. Modest declines among FHA/VA loans (-2,000) and GSE (-1,000) were offset by a 5,000 rise in plan volumes among portfolio and PLS mortgages as plan activity hit its lowest level since mid-August. Start volumes edged higher, driven by an increase in new plans among FHA/VA loans, which hit their highest level since early October.

As of November 16, 1.01 million mortgage holders remain in COVID-19 related forbearance plans, representing 1.9% of all active mortgages, including 1.2% of GSE, 3.1% of FHA/VA and 2.4% of portfolio held and privately securitized loans.

Overall, the number of forbearance plans is still down by 230,000 (-18%) from the same time last month, with the potential for additional improvements as we enter December. More than 200,000 plans remain with October/November reviews for extension/removal and nearly 300,000 more are slated for review in December – half of which are expected to be reaching their final expirations.

We will continue to monitor the very latest forbearance data from the McDash Flash dataset and report our findings each week on this blog.