A growing percentage of U.S. homeowners are looking to delay making mortgage payments, the latest sign that the economic recovery is hitting a snag, Bloomberg News reported. In the first week of December, the proportion of mortgage borrowers that started seeking forbearance relief rose to its highest level since August, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. And call volume at the companies that collect payments rose to the highest level since April, a sign of growing distress among homeowners, the trade group said yesterday. With long-term unemployment rates rising and COVID-19 cases surging, “it is not surprising to see more homeowners seeking relief,” Mike Fratantoni, chief economist at the MBA, said in a statement. The increasing number of homeowners that have started seeking mortgage forbearance comes even as the economy has shown signs of recovery, underscoring how uneven the turnaround is. U.S. household net worth reached a fresh record of $123.5 trillion in the third quarter, while almost 4 million workers have been unemployed for more than 27 weeks. Homeowners are delaying payments under a U.S. forbearance program that started in March and allows mortgage borrowers to take a break for as long as a year without penalty. The total percentage of loans that are in forbearance edged lower to 5.48 percent in the week ended Dec. 6, from 5.54 percent the week before. Yet the number of borrowers looking to enter forbearance rose to 0.12 percent of all the loans mortgage servicers collect payments for, the most since August, the MBA said.
