The industry-wide servicing-for-others total was down $99.41 billion from June, a 3.0% quarterly decline. With a handful of exceptions, the banking sector has reported quarterly declines in SFO since the end of 2009.
Freddie continued to account for most GSE repurchase activity in the third quarter, but buybacks remained at historically low levels. (Includes three data charts.)
A lot of the decline in servicing-for-others held by banks was attributable to Wells Fargo and other big players in the market. A number of mid-sized banks grew SFO in 3Q20. (Includes two data charts.)
Federally insured depositories added a whopping $115.23 billion to their aggregate single-family MBS portfolio during 3Q20, according to Inside MBS & ABS...
Bank of America led a number of other large banks in the third quarter by buying Fannie and Freddie pass-throughs while reducing its Ginnie MBS holdings. (Includes two data charts.)
Conventional-conforming production accounted for a whopping 72% of first-lien originations during the third quarter. Government lending also boomed, but non-agency was down. (Includes two data charts.)
The estimated $822 billion of conventional-conforming lending set a quarterly record and represented 72.1% of the huge third-quarter wave of mortgage originations.
While early-payment default rates showed bigger declines, the rate for loans in the most serious delinquency categories remained relatively high. Across all three agencies, 2.92% of loans were four months or more past due, down slightly from the previous month.
The VA continued to expand its role in the Ginnie MBS market in October. Overall, a small increase in purchase-mortgage business offset a tiny slip in refi volume. (Includes two data charts.)
Year-to-date production, $1.852 trillion as of Halloween, was up 131.5% from last year. It’s a foregone conclusion that Fannie and Freddie this month will top the current $1.912 trillion annual record for GSE MBS issuance set back in 2003.