Share of mortgages in forbearance swells to 7.3%

More than 3.8M homeowners are now in forbearance programs with their lenders as of April 30, representing 7.3% of the entire active mortgage universe and $841B in unpaid principal, according to new data from Black Knight.

The mortgages in forbearance represent 6.1% of all government-sponsored enterprise-backed loans and 10.5% of FHA/VA loans.

At that level, mortgage servicers would need to advance $3B to holders of government-backed mortgage securities on COVID-19-related forbearances each month.

Another $1.5B in lost funds will be faced each month by those with portfolio-held or privately securitized mortgages.

Even with the FHFA’s four-month limit on advance obligations, servicers of GSE-backed mortgages could still face almost $8B in advances based on the number of forbearance plans through April 30, Black Knight said.

Mortgage servicer shares fall — New Residential (NRZ -1.9%), Ocwen Financial (OCN -4.9%), Mr. Cooper (COOP -6.2%), and PennyMac Financial (PFSI -4.6%).

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3567697-share-of-mortgages-in-forbearance-swell-to-7_3-black-knight-says