Researchers predict that the rate will rise in step with unemployment rate projections.
Ginnie Mae will begin taking requests for assistance from issuers who, having exhausted all other options, are having trouble advancing borrowers' principal-and-interest payments to investors amid the pandemic.
The Federal Reserve's $2.3 trillion loan stimulus includes plans for outstanding commercial mortgage-backed securities and newly issued collateralized loan obligations.
Fitch assumes a significant spike in defaults over the next few months, as well as declining new issuance volume during the second and third quarters of 2020, fewer maturing loans and fewer resolutions by special servicers.
Attom ranked 483 counties across the country based on 4Q foreclosure notices, local wages and other factors.
The share of borrowers seeking payment relief rose more than tenfold as COVID-19 concerns grew and authorities encouraged the practice, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Ginnie Mae and the FHA provided temporary liquidity relief for mortgage servicers bracing for higher delinquencies, but the industry continues to pressure Treasury and the Fed to provide more comprehensive support.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria said a virus-induced financial crisis might give rise to more delinquencies and foreclosures than the 2007 subprime mortgage meltdown.
The agency has relaxed some reporting requirements and joined other regulators in encouraging banks to help borrowers, but pressure is building on the bureau to do more to aid consumers suffering financial hardship.
As social distancing related to the coronavirus complicates work for appraisers, real estate agents and construction lenders, professionals turn to technology and, in some cases, ask consumers to pitch in.