It has been more than seven years since the monthly issuance of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginne Mae mortgage-backed securities has been this low.
Issuance of fixed-rate MBS on behalf of the trio of government-controlled companies totaled $61.485 billion in February.
Securitizations slowed from the previous month, when $64.890 billion in MBS were issued. The prior-month total was revised down from $64.916 billion originally reported.
Volume has plummeted by more than half compared to the same month in 2013, when the three companies generated $150.211 billion in securitizations. The year-earlier totals were revised down from thr $150.374 billion originally reported.
In fact, it was the slowest month since November 2006, when fixed-rate issuances amounted to $60.672 billion, according to historical data from eMBS back to February 2010.
Year-to-date Feb. 28, issuances were $126.375 billion.
Freddie took the biggest hit last month, with fixed-rate issuances falling to $17.008 billion from $19.037 billion in January. In Februry 2013, issuances at the McLean, Va.-based firm were $40.615 billion.
During the first two months of 2014, Freddie’s volume was $36.045 billion.
Ginnie had a similar slide, with volume retreating to $18.946 billion from $20.152 billion. In the same month during 2013, the Washington, D.C.-based company’s MBS issuances were $35.299 billion.
The government-owned corporation’s year-to-date business totaled $39.097 billion.
Fannie delivered the best performance, with MBSÂ volume slipping to $25.532 billion from $25.702 billion in January. But like at its agency counterparts, business tumbled from February 2013, when issuances came in at $74.297 billion.
From Jan. 1 through Feb. 28, issuances at Washington, D.C.-based Fannie amounted to $51.234 billion.
