Ginnie Mae has announced that its mortgage-backed securities (MBS) portfolio outstanding grew to $2.53 trillion in January 2024, including $28.1 billion of total MBS issuance, leading to $10.8 billion of net growth.
January’s new MBS issuance supports the financing for more than 91,000 households, including more than 46,000 first-time homebuyers. Approximately 77.6% of the January MBS issuance reflects new mortgages that support home purchases, because refinance activity remained low due to higher interest rates.
At the close of the month of January, Freddie Mac reported the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) at 6.63%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.09%. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported the refinance share of mortgage activity at 34.2% for the week ending January 26, 2024.
Ginnie Mae’s January issuance includes $27.4 billion of Ginnie Mae II MBS and more than $674 million of Ginnie Mae I MBS, including nearly $558 million in loans for multifamily housing.
For the 2024 calendar year to date, Ginnie Mae supported the pooling and securitization of more than 46,000 first-time homebuyer loans.
Ginnie Mae’s MBS portfolio outstanding grew to $2.52 trillion in December, including $28.7 billion of total MBS issuance, leading to $13 billion of net growth. December’s new MBS issuance supports the financing of nearly 95,000 households, including more than 47,000 first-time homebuyers. Approximately 76.3% of the December MBS issuance reflected new mortgages that support home purchases because refinance activity remained low due to higher interest rates. The December issuance includes $27.6 billion of Ginnie Mae II MBS and nearly $1.02 billion of Ginnie Mae I MBS, including approximately $902 million in loans for multifamily housing.
And in light of continued liquidity constraints in the reverse mortgage sector, Ginnie Mae announced that it is exploring the viability of a new securitization product that would accept HECM loans with balances above 98% of FHA’s Maximum Claim Amount (MCA). This new product will not change the requirements for the existing HMBS program, where HECM loans with balances at or above 98% MCA are required to be bought out of HMBS.
“Ginnie Mae remains committed to the HMBS program, which supports an important tool that enables seniors to tap into their home equity,” said Ginnie Mae President Alanna McCargo. “This potential product exploration reflects our focus on current liquidity issues affecting the secondary mortgage market. Given the growing population of older Americans that may need to rely on home equity for financial support, continued efforts to provide stability in the secondary market are crucial to the ongoing health and access to the FHA HECM product.”
