The latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey revealed that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased for the 8th week in a row, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)
- Total loans in forbearance decreased by 1 basis point to 4.49% from last week’s from 4.50%
- 2.25 million homeowners are in forbearance plans, according to an MBA estimate.
Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, had an important point. He said in a statement “More than 40 percent of borrowers in forbearance extensions have now exceeded the 12-month mark.”
Hearing that almost a million homeowners are seriously delinquent is undoubtedly concerning to many. However, it really shouldn’t be. According to the latest equity report from CoreLogic, in Q4 only 1.5 million homeowners were underwater. At the rate homes are appreciating, that number is dropping by the day. Freddie Mac reported last week that the housing market is 3.8 million properties short of current demand. So even if all 1.5 million homeowners got foreclosed on and every house hit the market at once, it would only represent 39.4% of what the market is currently demanding.