Ginnie Mae Hits New High-Water Mark in October

(update 1: corrected Ginnie Mae issuance history) In October, fixed issuance volume from Ginnie Mae formally surpassed similar issuance volumes from either Fannie Mae (FNM) or Freddie Mac (FRE). According to data provided to HousingWire by eMBS, Inc., fixed issuance in October at Ginnie Mae rose to $27.8 billion, while Fannie saw fixed issuance fall to $27.7 billion; Ginnie had already been outpacing Freddie Mac’s fixed issuance volume since July, and Freddie posted just $14.4 billion in fixed issuance volume last month. Ginnie issuance has not topped either GSE since the mid-1980s. Fixed issuance refers to MBS deals backed by fixed-rate mortgage products, and represent the lion’s share of total issuance in the agency and government-backed MBS markets. Adding in ARM and hybrid ARM issuance totals, eMBS’ data shows that Fannie maintained a very slight overall lead in total issuance volume during October, booking $29.6 billion in total volume to Ginnie’s $29.5 billion. The growth of Ginnie Mae says as much about the resurgence of FHA loan products in the nation’s ailing mortgage market as it does about the shrinking violets that have become the GSEs in the wake of their conservatorship with the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Fannie Mae saw its total issuance fall a sharp 27.6 percent between September and October, while Fannie Mae saw total issuance fall even further, at 33.5 percent; Ginnie, however, increased its issuance totals by nearly 10 percent in the same timeframe. For Freddie Mac, its $14.4 billion in fixed issuance in October is its worst monthly showing since January 2001, according to eMBS data; for Fannie, October’s woeful total is the GSE’s lowest since March 2005. While fixed issuance fell at each GSE, much of the drop-off at both Fannie and Freddie has more to do with stunning declines in both ARM and hybrid ARM issuances: consider, for example that Freddie Mac issued a little over $3 billion in hybrid ARM transactions during Sept., and just $718.4 million in October. All of which underscores just how prominent a role FHA-endorsed loans have come to play in this market, although many expect both GSEs to ramp up issuance volumes in the last two months of the year. Write to Paul Jackson at paul.jackson@housingwire.com.