For two months running now, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. has seen increased secondary market activity. In addition, the government-controlled enterprise ended a string of monthly increases in late payments on its home loans.
February’s purchases and issuances were $37.633 billion, according to Freddie Mac’s monthly volume summary.
Business came in stronger than $34.381 billion in January, which was also an up month. Last month’s activity brought year-to-date purchases and issuances to $72.014 billion.
But the latest level of secondary acquisitions fell just shy of $38.903 billion generated in February 2011.
The McLean, Va.-based firm continued reducing its total mortgage portfolio, which fell to $2.0614 trillion from $2.0671 trillion one month earlier. A year earlier the portfolio stood at $2.1519 trillion.
The Feb. 29 total mortgage portfolio included $1.4336 trillion in outstanding participation certificates and an investment portfolio of $0.6278 trillion.
Residential delinquency of at least 90 days was 3.57 percent, falling for the first time in six months from 3.59 percent in January. The rate of past-due payments was also improved from 3.78 percent in February 2011.
There was no change from January in multifamily delinquency of at least 60 days, which finished last month at 0.21 percent. The rate has tumbled from the same month last year, when it was 0.36 percent.
