Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie issued a combined $742 billion of single-family MBS in the second quarter, smashing a record set back in 2003, the mother lode for mortgage business.

Record-low mortgage interest rates powered a surge in refinance activity in agency mortgage-backed securities platforms during the second quarter of 2020, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis.

“We didn’t have as much of a housing shock [even] as we had 20 million people laid off,” said Mark Calabria, director of the FHFA.

“CRT secondary markets have remained open throughout this crisis,” Freddie Mac's Mike Reynolds told Inside Mortgage Finance. “They were dramatically impacted by the COVID liquidity technical, as all markets were, but I think its important for your readers to know that trading still occurred."

Refinance activity continued to drive Fannie/Freddie MBS issuance, but purchase-mortgage activity has still not caught fire...

According to figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance, consumers owe roughly $11.168 trillion on their home mortgages, which (based on the MBA measurement) means $947.1 billion in residential debt is at risk.