jbancroft@imfpubs.com

First-time homebuyers continued to account for just over half of the purchase mortgages securitized by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae during the second quarter of 2019.

Lenders delivered $109.35 billion of first-timer purchase loans into agency mortgage-backed securities during the most recent quarter, according to an Inside Mortgage Finance analysis. That was up 39.2% from the first quarter and represented 51.6% of agency purchase loans. In 2018, first timers accounted for 50.2% of agency purchase loans.

Repeat buyers still were a major source of new mortgage business, with agency volume climbing 37.5% from the first to the second quarter.

Freddie saw a huge 54.2% increase in first-timer loans during the second quarter, although its 24.0% share of the agency total was the smallest of the three secondary-market platforms. For more details and exclusive tables on the FTHB market, see the new edition of Inside Mortgage Finance.