Mortgage forbearances ticked higher in the last week of February, Black Knight Inc. reported, citing its McDash Flash Forbearance Tracker.

The 21,000, or 0.8%, increase brings the number of homeowners in a forbearance plan to more than 2.7 million nationwide, according to the mortgage services provider. The weekly increase follows a decline earlier in February that cut the number of homeowners in forbearance plans to less than 2.7 million, the first dip below that threshold since April 2020.

Despite the weekly increase, the monthly rate of decline in forbearances remained at 2% in February, signaling “very slow but steady” improvement in the measure, Black Knight said.

Portfolio-held and privately securitized mortgages saw forbearances increase by 16,000, or 2.4%, the largest weekly increase among mortgage types, while Federal Housing Administration and Veterans Administration mortgage forbearances rose by 7,000, or 2.4%, and mortgages held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saw forbearances decline by 2,000, or 0.2%.