Agency issuance picked up last month but still sits well below year-ago levels. A big monthly decline at the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. was more than offset by a big jump in issuance of Government National Mortgage Association mortgage-backed securities.
Fixed-rate agency issuance was $85.3 billion in April based on data from eMBS. Activity edged up from $84.5 billion in March but fell significantly from $135.3 billion in April 2009. During the first four months of this year, agency issuance totaled $363.6 billion.
At Fannie Mae, April issuance was $33.5 billion, edging down from $34.0 billion a month earlier and falling from $54.8 billion a year earlier. Year-to-date issuance at Fannie was $145.1 billion.
Freddie Mac issuance sank to $22.6 billion from March’s $29.9 billion and April 2009’s $46.2 billion. Year-to-date volume at the McLean, Va.-based firm was $108.4 billion.
But volume strengthened to $29.2 billion in April from the previous month’s $20.6 billion at Ginnie Mae, where volume was $34.3 billion during April 1009. Ginnie’s volume so far this year was $110.1 billion.
