The bad news is that new business at the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. fell to the lowest level this year. The good news is that delinquency, which was already at a four-year low, improved again.
Freddie Mac reported in a monthly operational summary that purchases and issuances amounted to $42.381 billion during May.
Secondary activity slowed from the previous month, when $47.298 billion in purchase and issuances were made.
However, new business was better than a year earlier, when the total was $29.654 billion.
During the first five months of 2013, volume totaled $227.657 billion.
Last month’s activity wasn’t enough to prevent a decline in the McLean, Va.-based company’s total mortgage portfolio, which fell to $1.9444 trillion from $1.9492 trillion as of April 30.
At the same point in 2012, the portfolio was $2.0164 trillion.
The most recent total mortgage portfolio reflected an $0.5185 trillion investment portfolio and $1.4259 trillion in outstanding mortgage securities.
Freddie’s residential delinquency of at least 90 days was 2.85 percent, lower than the previous month’s 2.91 percent. Serious delinquency was 3.50 percent in May 2012.
Residential delinquency hasn’t seen an increase since September 2012, when the rate was 3.37 percent, and now stands at the lowest level since June 2009, when it was 2.78 percent.
On the commercial real estate side, multifamily delinquency of at least 60 days slipped a basis point to land at 0.08 percent in May. Multifamily delinquency has plummeted from 0.26 percent a year prior.
