New production of agency single-family MBS in November was down 8.2 percent from the previous month, according to a preliminary Inside MBS & ABS analysis. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae issued a combined $134.70 billion of single-family MBS in November, the lowest monthly total since July. A decline wasn’t unexpected: the housing market is on the downslope of its seasonal trend and rising mortgage interest rates are taking some of the steam out of the refinance market. What is a little unusual is...[Includes two data tables]
Just over a week ago, the Federal Housing Finance Agency raised the maximum conforming loan limit for GSE mortgages by $7,100 for 2017, citing an increase in home prices.
Total FHA and VA originations increased during the first nine months of 2016 compared to the same period last year, although VA was more active, posting a double-digit production increase, according to an analysis of Ginnie Mae data. Lenders delivered $201.0 billion of FHA loans to Ginnie single-family mortgage pools over the last three quarters, up 4.8 percent from the previous year. Approximately 65.4 percent and 29.3 percent of FHA loans securitized were purchase loans and refinances, respectively. The remainder was loan modifications. VA originations totaled $143.2 billion over the same period, up 22.3 percent from last year. Refinances accounted for 51.9 percent of volume and purchase loans comprised 47.0 percent. The share of FHA loans in agency mortgage-backed securities for the nine-month period was 19.5 percent and 13.9 percent for VA. FHA loans accounted for ...