Forbearance requests from homeowners have leveled off in recent weeks showing that there are likely to be less delinquencies and foreclosures than originally thought; 4.2 million were on forbearance plans as of May 17h, equating to about 8.36% of all loans outstanding; this number stood at less than 1% in early March and was 8% on May 3rd; this is welcome news to mortgage services s even as job losses have continued to increase; still it is hard to model just what might happen going forward especially as some businesses will not rehire staff; some estimates show delinquency rates peaking at 12% to 15% nationwide with foreclosure rates hitting 9% or 10%; there will also be a concentration of foreclosures and delinquencies in areas most impacted by COVID-19. American Banker
