The Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey revealed that the total number of loans now in forbearance increased from 8.16 percent of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 8.36 percent as of May 17. According to MBA’s estimate, 4.2 million homeowners are now in forbearance plans.

Mortgages backed by Ginnie Mae again had the largest overall share of loans in forbearance by investor type (11.6 percent) and the largest increase from the previous week (34 basis points). The number of loans in forbearance for depository servicers rose to 9.13 percent, while the number of loans in forbearance for independent mortgage bank servicers increased to 8.11 percent. Over the past four weeks, the difference between the percentage of loans in forbearance for depository servicers compared to IMB servicers has narrowed, from 135 basis points as of April 19 to 102 basis points as of May 17.

“Although job losses continue at extremely high rates, mortgage servicers are reporting only modest increases in the share of loans in forbearance as of May 17,” MBA Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni said in a statement. “The decline in employment and income is hitting FHA and VA borrowers harder, leading to 11.6 percent of Ginnie Mae loans currently in forbearance.”