The Federal Home Loans Banks’ combined net income for the fourth quarter fell to $791 million, an 8.7% decline from the fourth quarter of 2017. Year-over-year, net income rose slightly to $3.56 billion in 2018. But this apparent stability masked dramatic swings elsewhere on the income statement. [Includes one data chart.]

Despite a slow fourth quarter, 2018 turned out to be the most profitable year since 2013 for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And, although only a fraction of the size of the GSEs’ single-family business, multifamily remained a bright spot. [Includes one data chart.]

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued a combined total of just $51.86 billion of single-family mortgage-backed securities in January, their lowest monthly production since February 2016. [Includes two data charts.]

The supply of Freddie Mac single-family mortgage servicing rights grew at more than twice the rate of increase in Fannie Mae product during 2018, according to a new Inside the GSEs analysis and ranking. [Includes two data charts.]

Single-family mortgage business at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac slumped in the fourth quarter of 2018 as purchase-mortgage activity faded, according to a new Inside The GSEs analysis of mortgage-backed securities disclosures. [Includes two data charts.]