The Federal Reserve remained the largest single investor in single-family MBS, though its portfolio finally began to decline during the second quarter. Ginnie led the agency market gains, while non-agency posted a fourth straight quarterly gain. (Includes two data charts.)

A new pricing scheme at Fannie and Freddie led to a steep decline in their purchases of high-balance loans in the second quarter. Meanwhile, non-agency jumbo — and the FHA — saw increased production. (Includes three data charts.)

August marked the lowest monthly output of agency single-family mortgage-backed securities since June 2019.

For the first time in a long while, Fannie in August finished third in issuance of single-family MBS. Agency purchase volume rose slightly as refinance activity continued to slump. (Includes two data charts.)

Most top lenders saw their production distribution shift dramatically toward purchase-mortgage lending in the second quarter. And nearly all shops reported declining refinance activity. (Includes four data charts.)

Megabanks Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase ranked second and fourth, respectively, among purchase lenders in 1H22...

The slippage reflected both declines in the market value of ABS as well as a modest trimming of assets.

REITs have seen their MBS portfolios shrink for six consecutive quarters since a cyclical peak at the end of 2020...

Most REITs reported further declines in the holdings of agency MBS and TBA positions during the second quarter. But a handful of firms continued building their MSR portfolios and non-agency MBS investment was up slightly. (Includes data chart.)

Most of the drop in bank ABS investment came in consumer-backed deals as Wells Fargo, Charles Schwab, TD Bank and others pared their holdings of these securities. But Schwab and TD both added significantly to their credit card and auto ABS. (Includes two data charts.)