While seller repurchases of Fannie loans fell sharply in the second quarter, buybacks of Freddie loans were up. Rocket Mortgage and United Wholesale Mortgage ranked at the top of GSE buybacks for the first half of the year. (Includes three data tables.)

Insurance companies are making a splash in the MBS market, as a number of different investor classes are tapping the agency — and non-agency — sectors. (Includes two data tables.)

Bank holding companies reported a 13% increase in the volume of MBS and ABS held in their trading accounts during the second quarter. Most of the increase was in agency single-family MBS. (Includes two data tables.)

All the top bank ABS investors reported reductions in their portfolios during the second quarter.

Most of the top bank ABS investors reported declines in their holdings during the second quarter. Radius Bank and Capital One bucked the trend by growing their portfolios. (Includes two data tables.)

Although bank holding companies keep most of their CLO investments in held-to-maturity accounts, the value of CLO classified as available-for-sale was up slightly in the second quarter. (Includes data table.)

Purchase-money mortgages accounted for 82.5% of agency MBS issuance during August, though the refinance share is growing.

Income from mortgage production increased in the second quarter as servicing income declined.

REITs increased their holdings of agency MBS during the second quarter while reducing investments in non-agency MBS and credit-risk transfer securities.

Improving efficiency played a big role in boosting mortgage-banking profits in the second quarter as gain-on-sale margins narrowed while servicing took a hit on net MSR valuation. (Includes data table.)