A month-over-month improvement in the issuance of multifamily securities wasn’t enough to prevent overall new business at the Government National Mortgage Association from falling to the lowest level in more than five years. Still, annual activity was the third-highest on record.
The issuance of Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities totaled $22.306 billion in December, according to operational data.
Based on historical data from the Washington, D.C.-based company, new business hasn’t been this slow since May 2008, when issuance was only $23.502 billion.
A month earlier, issuance was $25.697 billion, while it was $41.211 billion a year earlier.
From Jan. 1 through Dec. 31 of last year, MBS issuance amounted to $417.385 billion, off slightly from $424.899 billion in calendar-year 2012.
Last year’s volume was the third-highest on record based on data going back to 1980. The record was reached in 2009:Â $454.029 billion.
Since beginning its fiscal-year 2014 on Oct. 1, 2013, issuance at Ginnie totals $76.312 billion.
Residential issuance fell to $20.728 billion last month from $24.534 billion in November.
Included in December’s residential issuance was $0.369 billion in jumbo activity, slipping from the previous month’s $0.371 billion.
Another component of residential issuance was home-equity conversion mortgage MBS, which declined to $0.826 billion from $0.878 billion.
Ginnie reported that multifamily issuance jumped to $1.578 billion last month from $1.163 billion in November.
