April 24, 2020 – More than 3.4 million American mortgage borrowers are now in forbearance—essentially hitting the pause button on their monthly payments for the foreseeable future.
According to the latest data from financial data firm Black Knight, that’s up from 2.9 million one week ago. In total, 6.4% of all U.S. mortgage loans are now in forbearance.
FHA and VA loans have seen the biggest surge in forbearance volume. Currently, almost 9% of these loans are in forbearance, while just 5.6% of mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are.
Data from the Mortgage Bankers Association also shows that bank mortgage servicers have higher shares of loans in forbearance than independent ones (8.26% vs, 6.57%)
Here’s how Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s senior vice president and chief economist, summed up the situation:
