Freddie Mac Issuance Still Refi-Heavy in August

Freddie Mac's total mortgage portfolio ended August with a principal balance of $1.93 trillion.  This represented a 5.0 percent reduction from the outstanding balance of $1.94 trillion at the end of July.  Purchases for that portfolio totaled $35.96 billion while Sales were ($3.87) billion, and Liquidations ($40.27) billion.  The annualized growth in the Total Mortgage Portfolio for the year-to-date is (1.7) percent and the Annualized Liquidations rate is (28.0) percent.

The Total mortgage portfolio is the sum of Freddie Mac's mortgage-related securities and other guarantee commitments plus the sum of mortgage loans and non-Freddie Mac mortgage-related securities, both agency and non-agency.

The Mortgage-Related Investments Portfolio had an ending balance of $511.94 billion compared to $521.25 billion in July, a decrease of $9.3 billion and an annualized growth rate of (21.4) percent.  This was the first drop in the portfolio balance since May.  Purchases totaled $17.84 billion, Sales were ($16.52 billion and Liquidations were ($10.55) billion. 

As of August 31, 2013, Freddie Mac had net unsettled purchase (sale) agreements of approximately $2,461 million.  The ending balance of the mortgage-related investments portfolio as of August 31, 2013 after giving effect to these unsettled agreements and assuming there were no other agreements entered into after that date would have been $514 billion.

Freddie Mac's mortgage-related securities and other guarantee commitments increased at an annualized rate of 2.3 percent to an ending balance of $1.61 trillion.

At the end of August the components making up the $511.94 billion Mortgage-Related Investment Portfolio broke down as:  $190.82 in PCs, REMICs and other structured securities; $20.70 billion in non-Freddie Mac Agency Securities and $106.87 billion in non-Freddie Mac non-Agency Securities; $193.55 billion in Mortgage Loans.

Single-family refinance loan purchases and guarantee volume was $20.8 billion during the month, representing 63 percent of total single-family purchases or issuances.  Relief refinances were approximately 33 percent of the companies refinance business.

Freddie Mac's total delinquency rate fell to 2.64 percent in August from 2.70 in July and 3.36 percent one year earlier.  Delinquencies of non-credit enhanced loans were at a rate of 2.25 percent, up one basis point from July but down from the 2.70 percent rate a year earlier.  The credit enhanced portfolio had a rate of 5.34 percent, compared to 5.90 percent and 7.64 percent in the earlier period.  The multifamily delinquency rate was .05 percent.