The last time that secondary activity was this low at Freddie Mac was near the peak of the financial crisis. But the good news is that late payments were lower on home loans.
April issuances and purchases amounted to $23.8 billion, according to monthly operational data from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.
It was the lowest activity since volume fell to $21.7 billion in January 2009 — four months following the government seizure of Freddie and government-controlled rival Fannie Mae at the height of the financial crisis. The lowest level on record for Freddie was October 2008’s $19.3 billion, based on available monthly data through February 2001.
Volume was $26.9 billion in March and $26.1 billion in April 2010.
McLean, Va.-based Freddie’s total mortgage portfolio fell to $2.1378 trillion from $2.1435 trillion on March 31. A year earlier, the balance sat at $2.2311 trillion.
The April 30 total included an investment portfolio of $0.6867 trillion and outstanding participation certificates of $1.4511 trillion.
It was more good news for new default activity.
The secondary lender said 90-day residential delinquency fell to 3.57 percent as of the end of last month from 3.63 percent at the close of March. The rate was 4.06 percent on April 30, 2010.
On multifamily mortgages, 60-day delinquency was 0.40 percent, worse than 0.36 percent the prior month and nearly double the 0.22 percent level reported for a year prior.
