Quicken Loans and United Shore Financial Services ranked as the top two agency MBS producers in April, dumping the market's long-time leader, Wells Fargo, into third. The megabank still ranked number one on a year-to-date basis.

The average daily trading volume in agency MBS shot up like a rocket to $269.7 billion in March, one of the best readings in quite some time. But what does it indicate?

Production of new MBS and ABS fell in almost every category during the first quarter of 2019, but several markets showed rebounding volume in March, a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis shows. Preliminary estimates indicate that a total of $310.04 billion of MBS and ABS was issued in the first three months of 2019, a 10.3% decline from the previous three-month period. It marked the softest quarter in new issuance since the April-June cycle ... [Includes three data charts]

The market leaders in rating non-agency MBS and non-mortgage ABS retained their top rankings in 2018. S&P Global was the top rating service in the ABS market, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS market analysis, after rating $142.24 billion of new issuance, an 11.6% percent increase from 2017. [Includes two data charts.]

Nonbanks continued to account for a growing share of new issuance in the agency single-family MBS market last year. [Includes one data chart.]

The Federal Reserve lost its top ranking among residential MBS investors during the fourth quarter of 2018, giving way to the commercial banking sector, according to a new In-side MBS & ABS analysis. [Includes three data charts.]

Real estate investment trusts increased their holdings of agency MBS during the fourth quarter of 2018, capping a solid year of growth, according to an Inside MBS & ABS analysis. [Includes one data chart.]

New production of agency single-family MBS fell for the sixth month in a row in Febru-ary, sinking to the lowest monthly output in nearly five years. [Includes two data charts.]

Commercial banks and savings institutions increased their investment in non-mortgage ABS during the fourth quarter of 2018, though the industry’s appetite for the product remained tepid. [Includes two data charts.]

Commercial banks and thrifts reversed a year-long trend during the fourth quarter of 2018 and increased their holdings of single-family MBS, a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis reveals. [Includes two data charts.]