Three names are being kicked around to head Ginnie Mae, the government’s $2 trillion MBS guarantor: Robert Couch, Clinton Jones and Joe Murin. But is something else afoot?
Nearly $320 billion of newly originated home loans were funneled into the MBS market during the second quarter, but that represented just 56.4% of new production in the primary mortgage market.
Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie issued a combined $170.7 billion in new single-family MBS in August, their highest monthly volume since November 2012. A big surge of refinance business was a major factor.
Ginnie Mae saw a huge increase in rate-term refinance business, but the cash-out market also gained ground. Freddie led its rivals in attracting more first-time buyer business.
A sharp increase in the securitization rate of nonprime and expanded-credit mortgages was partly due to seasoned loans and GSE-eligible mortgages. Agency securitization rates were sluggish.
Fannie posted the biggest increase over April MBS volume, while Freddie lagged behind. Purchase-mortgage business is on track for another annual climb.
Production of new MBS and ABS fell in almost every category during the first quarter of 2019, but several markets showed rebounding volume in March, a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis shows. Preliminary estimates indicate that a total of $310.04 billion of MBS and ABS was issued in the first three months of 2019, a 10.3% decline from the previous three-month period. It marked the softest quarter in new issuance since the April-June cycle ... [Includes three data charts]