It’s been almost 20 years since the ABS market had a quarter like the first three months of 2024. Some 72 of the 114 issuers that brought deals to market in the first quarter were on the sidelines in the previous period. (Includes three data tables.)

Refinance volume was up across the board in first-quarter agency business, but the sharp spike in VA activity caught the most attention. (Includes three data tables.)

Fun fact: Expanded-credit deals were the biggest source of new issuance in the first quarter...

At the end of March, some 11.1% of agency single-family servicing had coupons over 6.0%, up from just 3.1% a year ago.

Issuance of non-agency MBS rose strongly in the first quarter, with hefty gains in prime, ECM and NPL/RPL production. While the market was well ahead of its year-ago pace, there’s still some catching up to do with 2021 and 2022. (Includes three data tables.)

Ginnie Mae continued growing its forward-mortgage servicing portfolio during the first quarter, leading to a rising share of high-coupon mortgages. Meanwhile, the GSE servicing market contracted slightly. (Includes two data tables.)

Agency securitization of purchase loans looks to have turned a corner in March, with volume rising 13.5% from February.

Purchase-mortgage volume at Ginnie Mae increased by 13.9% on an annual basis in the first quarter of 2024.

The agency single-family MBS market is the main driver of structured finance issuance, but it recorded a decline in first-quarter production while ABS, commercial MBS and non-agency RMBS posted gains. (Includes three data tables.)

The refinance market is showing signs of life — especially in the government-insured sector — and total agency MBS issuance in the first quarter was up from a year ago. (Includes two data tables.)