Government’s Mortgage Bailout Count Shrinks for First Time Since Pandemic Began

For the first time since the pandemic started, the number of borrowers in both government and private-label mortgage forbearance programs dropped after steep increases in April and May. The total fell by 34,000 last week, according to new numbers from Black Knight, a mortgage technology and data provider. This news may bring relief after months of economic strife, but CNBC reports that there is still trouble ahead: 4.73 million loans totaling over $1 trillion are in forbearance, and expanded unemployment benefits are scheduled to end in July.

Fewer borrowers are now in mortgage relief programs that allow them to delay their monthly payments due to the coronavirus crisis. The mortgage market, however, is not out of the woods yet. Far from it.

After a steep rise in April and a flattening toward the end of May, the number of borrowers in both government and private-label mortgage forbearance programs dropped by 34,000 last week, according to new numbers from Black Knight, a mortgage technology and data provider. This is the first drop since the start of the pandemic.

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