The average daily trading volume in agency MBS totaled $229.9 billion in February, an 8.5% sequential decline from the previous month, according to figures compiled by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

Real estate investment trusts increased their holdings of agency MBS during the fourth quarter of 2018, capping a solid year of growth, according to an Inside MBS & ABS analysis. [Includes one data chart.]

New production of agency single-family MBS fell for the sixth month in a row in Febru-ary, sinking to the lowest monthly output in nearly five years. [Includes two data charts.]

The average daily trading volume in agency MBS spiked northward in January, increasing 18.3% on a sequential basis, according to figures compiled by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

The overall mortgage securitization rate fell slightly in 2018, with 70.0% of home loans originated in the primary market ending up in MBS pools, according to an Inside MBS & ABS analysis. [Includes one data chart.]

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac racked up $25.19 billion in combined net income in 2018, their most profitable year since 2013, when earnings were inflated by accounting rules for deferred tax assets. [Includes one data chart.]

New production of single-family MBS started the new year on a downbeat, with combined issuance by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae slipping to $80.72 billion in January, ac-cording to a new Inside MBS & ABS ranking and analysis. [Includes two data charts.]

An estimated $9.6 billion of Ginnie Mae securities backed by FHA-insured reverse mortgages were issued in 2018, down from $10.5 billion a year ago, according to New View Advisors.

New mortgage- and asset-backed securitiza-tion production totaled $1.504 trillion in 2018, the lowest annual output in five years, an exclusive new analysis by Inside MBS & ABS reveals. [Includes three data charts.]

After having initially been brushed off as unnecessary, a pilot program that allowed Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to help finance single-family rental activity is now being hailed a success.