Deliveries of refinance loans into Fannie and Freddie MBS pools fell sharply in February. But record lows in interest rates promise a huge influx of business in coming months. (Includes two data charts.)
Correspondent production across all three major mortgage food groups was up 12.6% from the third to the fourth quarter, while retail rose 5.8% and wholesale-broker managed just a 2.5% gain. (Includes two data charts.)
Although secondary market sales by bank mortgage banking platforms were down 8% in the fourth quarter, it still ranked as one of the busiest periods since early 2013. (Includes two data charts.)
Industry-wide holdings of residential MBS were steady in the fourth quarter, but several REITs shifted their focus to non-agency MBS and other investments. (Includes data chart.)
Foreign investors boosted their holdings of U.S. agency MBS by 13.4% from June 2018 to the middle of last year, with big gains posted by Japan and China. (Includes data chart.)
The outstanding supply of home-equity debt fell close to the $500 billion mark in late 2019, and depository HELOC holdings dropped to $402 billion. (Includes three data charts.)
Refinance business held up better than the purchase market in February, and a handful of issuers actually increased their Ginnie MBS activity. (Includes two data charts.)