Forbearance rate for top GSEs fall to lowest level since April

In today’s Daily Download episode , HousingWire covers a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association that indicates the forbearance rate for mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have dropped below 5%. For some background on the story, here’s a summary of the article : The forbearance rate for mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac dropped to 4.94% in the first week of August, the first time it’s been below 5% since April, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in a report on Monday.The rate for mortgages backed by government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs, fell 25 basis points from the prior week, according to the report.Overall, the forbearance rate fell 23 basis points from the prior week to 7.21%, representing 3.6 million mortgages, MBA said. The forbearance share for loans in Ginnie Mae securities – meaning, mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration, the Veterans Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture – fell 52 basis points to 9.54%, though some of that decline stems from delinquent loans being sold off and reported in the private portfolio category, the report said. Following the main story, HousingWire covers a study from Redfin that suggests new interest from city dwellers is raising home prices in rural areas and a joint report from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo that claims America’s western region is showing the most promise as builder confidence returned to a record high across the country. The Daily Download examines the most compelling articles reported from the HousingWire newsroom. Each afternoon, we provide our listeners with a deeper look into the stories coming across our newsroom that are helping Move Markets Forward . Hosted by the HW team and produced by Alcynna Lloyd and Victoria Wickham. HousingWire articles covered in this episode: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac forbearance rate drops below 5% New interest from city dwellers raising home prices in rural areas The West showing the most promise as builder confidence returns to record high