Issuance of Ginnie MBS declined by 8.6% on a monthly basis in October. FHA and VA volume declined at similar rates while purchase-mortgage activity held up better than refinances. (Includes two data tables.)

Large bank correspondent aggregators of FHA mortgages looked to firm guidelines on credit scores and LTV ratios while Fed researchers found that smaller nonbank lenders were willing to go down in credit and loan performance didn’t suffer.

Production of Ginnie Mae single-family mortgage-backed securities saw a modest increase in the third quarter. PennyMac lost some market share in the FHA program. (Includes four data charts.)