Ginnie Mae has announced that the corporation guaranteed $47.06 billion in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) for July, surpassing the old record set in July 2009 of $46.1 billion. So far, for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015, Ginnie Mae has guaranteed more than $346 billion in MBS, compared to $242 billion at this point in FY 2014.
“This growth is clear indication of the value of our single securitization platform. The scalability of our platform allows Ginnie Mae to support the shift from traditional depository institutions to new entrants – which have primarily been non-depositories,” said Ginnie Mae President Ted Tozer. “The rapid rise of these new entrants has been critical to our growth and to keeping mortgage credit available to middle class America."
Government lending overall has reached an all-time high—and in terms of consumer demand there’s no reason for it to slow, given the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) recent mortgage insurance premium drop and competitive interest rates for FHA, VA, and RHS loans. Purchase activity has been increasing over the last several months. July’s purchase activity comprises more than 60 percent of total issuances, compared to approximately 34 percent increase for loan refinances. “The increase in purchase activity is further proof that the housing recovery is moving into high gear,” said Tozer.
Currently, Ginnie Mae’s mortgage-backed securities (MBS) portfolio stands at $1.57 trillion in unpaid principal balance (UPB). “Despite this rapid growth, the Ginnie Mae platform, while fueling competition, also spreads risk among our issuers.”
In July, Ginnie Mae II single-family pools led the way with more than $43.8 billion in MBS issuance, while Ginnie Mae I single-family pools totaled nearly $1.6 billion. Total single-family issuance for July was more than $45.5 billion. Ginnie Mae’s multifamily MBS issuance was nearly $1.5 billion. The Ginnie Mae Home Equity Conversion Mortgage-Backed Securities (HMBS), included in Ginnie Mae II single-family pools, totaled $809 million in July.
