Delinquency continued to deteriorate at Fannie Mae — which manages more than $3 trillion in mortgage assets. Quarterly purchases declined, reflecting one of the most tumultuous periods in its history — though new business improved during the latest month.
New business acquisitions were $126.9 billion in the third-quarter, according to the company’s October monthly operational summary released Thursday. Activity dropped from $199.1 billion in the second quarter and $197.9 billion a year earlier.
From January through September, secondary purchases total $518.1 billion.
During the third quarter, Fannie, and nearby rival Freddie Mac, were seized by their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The congressionally chartered secondary mortgage lenders were becoming unable to fulfill their mission: Provide liquidity to the secondary mortgage market.
But Fannie saw activity pick up last month.
For just September — the first month under government control — secondary purchases were $44.1 billion, higher than August’s $40.5 billion. In September 2007, volume was $66.5 billion.
Another short-term gauge, portfolio commitments to purchase, increased from $25.0 billion in August to $43.8 billion last month.
The Washington, D.C.-based firm’s total book of business was $3.079 trillion at the end of the third quarter, climbing from $3.059 trillion in August. Included in the latest book of business were $2.318 trillion in outstanding mortgage-backed securities and a gross mortgage portfolio of $0.761 trillion.
Residential delinquency of at least 90 days, reported on a one-month lag, was 1.57 percent on Aug. 31, climbing — for the 16th straight month — from 1.45 percent on July 31. Delinquency was higher than at any point since 2001 — according to the oldest available data at MortgageDaily.com.
Multifamily delinquency rose for the third consecutive month to 0.16 percent at the end of the August from 0.13 percent at the end of July. Late payments on multifamily loans were just 0.06 percent in August 2007.
The effective duration gap at the Federal National Mortgage Association was a positive one month, down from a positive two months in August.
