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61 April 2025 J O U R N A L April 2025 » and other ABS problems boosted their holdings by $282 million (0.4%), while life insurance companies grew their holdings of multifamily mortgage debt by $10.2 billion (4.2%). The assets of state and local governments decreased by $1.6 billion, or 1.7%. Private pension funds experienced the largest decline in multifamily mort- gage holdings (10.9%), while life insur- ance firms saw the largest gain (4.2%). Multifamily mortgage debt out- standing increased by $111.0 billion in 2024, or 5.4%. With a 6.2% ($61.8 bil- lion) increase in multifamily mortgage debt holdings, agency and GSE portfo- lios and MBS experienced the biggest gain in monetary terms. The highest decline in holdings was $419 million (26.4%) for private pension funds. U.S. FORBEARANCES MODERATE AS LOAN WORKOUTS INCREASE T he overall number of loans now in forbearance fell by 2 basis points from 0.40% of servicers' portfolio volume in the previous month to 0.38% as of February 28, 2025, according to the Mortgage Bankers As- sociation's (MBA) Monthly Loan Mon- itoring Survey (LMS). MBA estimates that 190,000 homeowners are enrolled in forbearance schemes. Since March 2020, mortgage servicers have granted almost 8.6 million forbearances. In February 2025, the percentage of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae loans in forbearance dropped by 2 basis points to 0.15%. The forbearance share for port- folio loans and private-label securities (PLS) dropped 3 basis points to 0.37%, while the forbearance share for Ginnie Mae loans fell 4 basis points to 0.84%. "Despite February's monthly decline of loans in forbearance, the estimated number of forbearances and loan workouts increased compared to one year ago," said Marina Walsh, CMB, MBA's VP of Industry Analysis. "The year-over-year gain may be at- tributed to increasing escrow payments for taxes and insurance, inf lationary pressures, natural disasters, aging servicing portfolios, and a softening in the labor market. At the same time, the performance of loan workouts and overall servicing portfolios weakened compared to one year ago." Key Findings of MBA's Loan Moni- toring Survey (Feb. 1- 28, 2025) • Total loans in forbearance decreased by 2 basis points in February 2025 relative to January 2025: from 0.40% to 0.38%. • By investor type, the share of Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased relative to the prior month from 0.88% to 0.84%. • The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance decreased relative to the prior month from 0.17% to 0.15%. • The share of other loans (e.g., port- folio and PLS loans) in forbearance decreased relative to the prior month from 0.40% to 0.37%. • Loans in forbearance as a share of servicing portfolio volume (#) as of February 28, 2025: • Total: 0.38% (previous month: 0.40%; previous year: 0.22%) • Independent Mortgage Banks (IMBs): 0.40% (previous month: 0.43%; previous year: 0.25%) • Depositories: 0.38% (previous month: 0.38%; previous year: 0.23%) American Borrowers Are Facing Forbearance… But Why? According to the data, an estimated 73.0% of borrowers are in forbear- ance because of temporary hardships brought on by disability, divorce, death, or job loss. Natural disasters have also put another 24.2% of Americans in forbearance. Due to COVID-19, the "Despite February's monthly decline of loans in forbearance, the estimated number of forbearances and loan workouts increased compared to one year ago." —Marina Walsh, CMB, MBA's VP of Industry Analysis