It’s been more than two years since aggregate issuance by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae has been this low. One entity was responsible for the poor performance.
Data provided by eMBS indicate that fixed-rate issuance by the three agencies was $68.1 billion during April. The last time the sum was this low was January 2009, when issuance was $62.4 billion.
Volume fell from $89.3 billion in April. A year earlier, issuance was $85.7 billion.
Between January and April, new securitizations totaled $379.6 billion.
The low level of activity was primarily the result of a big decline at Fannie. The secondary lender’s issuance staggered in at $28.7 billion — its lowest level since the $20.1 billion generated in January 2009. Fannie’s prior-month issuances were $48.9 billion, and its April 2010 volume was $33.8 billion.
Year-to-date April 30 issuances at Fannie were $185.0 billion.
Moving on to Fannie’s government-controlled cousin Freddie, $19.7 billion in fixed-rate issuance was lower than $21.3 billion in March and $22.6 billion a year earlier. Freddie’s year-to-date issuances added up to $108.4 billion.
Over at the Government National Mortgage Association, volume was steady at $19.8 billion versus the prior month’s $19.0 billion but below April 2010 issuances of $29.4 billion. Ginnie has generated $86.2 billion in activity so far this year.
