After reaching a nearly four-year high in April, the issuance of agency mortgage-backed securities slipped last month thanks to a decline at the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.
Fixed-rate MBS issued for the Federal National Mortgage Association, Freddie Mac and the Government National Mortgage Association collectively amounted to $146.017 billion in May.
Volume was off from the previous month, when agency issuance was $149.000 billion — the highest level since July 2009 issuances of $163.789 billion.
Issuance did rise, however, from the same month in 2012, when $119.015 billion in MBS was securitized.
The data, which was provided by eMBS, indicates that agency issuance during the first five months of 2013 totaled $744.778.
Agency issuance was weaker because Freddie’s volume fell to $38.509 billion from $43.356 billion in April. But the McLean, Va.-based company managed to lift business from $24.154 billion in May 2012.
Year-to-date volume at Freddie totaled $211.180 billion.
Issuers of Ginnie Mae MBS pushed fixed-rate securitization activity up to $37.622 billion from the previous month’s $36.079 billion. A year earlier, issuance at the government-owned corporation added up to $32.341 billion.
From Jan. 1 through May 31, Ginnie’s issuances totaled $176.009 billion.
Fannie Mae also saw an uptick in activity, with fixed-rate issuance inching up to $69.886 billion last month from $69.564 billion. In May 2012, securitizations at the Washington, D.C.-based firm were $62.520 billion.
Year-to-date volume at Fannie was $357.589 billion.
