Agency MBS Production Hits 9-Year Low in February, Year-to-Date Issuance Off Sharply
March 7, 2014
New production of single-family MBS by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae fell for the tenth consecutive month in February, hitting a low that hasn’t been seen since well before the financial crisis and housing recession. The three agencies produced just $64.34 billion in single-family MBS during February, a 6.1 percent drop from the previous month, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS ranking and analysis. That was the lowest monthly agency MBS issuance since March 2005, when new issuance totaled just $64.09 billion. In those days, non-agency MBS issuance substantially exceeded agency production, and a month’s worth of new jumbo, subprime and Alt A deals ($89.41 billion in March 2005) represented about three years of new issuance in today’s market. The first two months of 2014 generated...[Includes two data charts]