Freddie Mac's single-family business today announced that its Credit Risk Transfer (CRT) program reported a 2021 CRT issuance of nearly $20 billion, protecting $828.5 billion in unpaid principal balance of single-family mortgages.
In the fourth quarter, CRT's issuance of $5.4 billion provided credit protection on $242.9 billion of single-family mortgages. The issuances included Structured Agency Credit Risk (STACR), Agency Credit Insurance Structure (ACIS), other insurance issuances, subordination, and certain lender risk sharing transactions.
“Freddie Mac’s Single-Family CRT program continued to innovate and evolve in 2021 while achieving record issuance,” said Freddie Mac’s Mike Reynolds, vice president of Single-Family CRT. “The year saw our first 30-year standalone ACIS transaction and first-ever STACR transaction with a 20-year maturity and a five-year call option. Our first-ever tender offer for STACR notes in 2021 set the stage for additional opportunities to manage Freddie Mac’s CRT portfolio.”
Through its flagship offerings alone, officials said, Freddie Mac issued approximately $18.7 billion across 10 STACR and 11 ACIS transactions in 2021. Among the notable transactions in the fourth quarter was October’s STACR 2021-DNA6. At nearly $1.5 billion, it was at that time Freddie Mac’s largest-ever CRT securities transaction.
Since the first CRT transaction in 2013, Freddie Mac’s Single-Family CRT program has cumulatively transferred approximately $85.3 billion in credit risk on approximately $2.7 trillion in mortgages through STACR and ACIS. As of December 31, 2021, approximately 53% of the single-family mortgage portfolio was covered by credit enhancement, according to company officials.
Freddie Mac’s Single-Family CRT programs transfer credit risk away from U.S. taxpayers to global private capital via securities and (re)insurance policies, providing stability, liquidity and affordability to the U.S. housing market.
