An estimated 3.5 million homeowners are now in forbearance plans as the total number of loans in forbearance has decreased, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The MBA’s latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey showed that the total number of loans in forbearance decreased by 15 basis points from 7.16 percent of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 7.01 percent as of Sept. 6.

The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance dropped for the 14th straight week to 4.65 percent – a 15-basis-point improvement. Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased 50 basis points to 9.12 percent, while the forbearance share for portfolio loans and private-label securities (PLS) increased by 28 basis points to 10.71 percent. The percentage of loans in forbearance for depository servicers decreased 19 basis points to 7.21 percent, while the percentage of loans in forbearance for independent mortgage bank (IMB) servicers decreased 8 basis points to 7.33 percent.

The MBA’s survey two months ago showed that approximately 4.1 million homeowners were in forbearance plans.

“The beginning of September brought another drop in the share of loans in forbearance, with declines in both GSE and Ginnie Mae forbearance shares,” Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s senior vice president and chief economist, said in a statement. “However, at least a portion of the decline in the Ginnie Mae share was due to servicers buying delinquent loans out of pools and placing them on their portfolios. As a result of this transfer, the share of portfolio loans in forbearance increased.”

Fratantoni in August had said the buyouts allowed servicers to stop advancing principal and interest payments on loans in forbearance, instead working “with borrowers in the hope that they can begin paying again before they are re-securitized into Ginnie Mae pools.”

Despite September’s drop in total forbearance plans, Fratantoni cautioned that the numbers could increase.

“Forbearance requests increased over the week, particularly for Ginnie Mae loans,” Fratantoni said. “With just under 1 million unemployment insurance claims still being filed every week, the lack of additional fiscal support for the unemployed could lead to even higher increases of those needing forbearance.”