Freddie Mac’s [1] mortgage portfolio has declined in each of the first three months of this year with the fastest annualized decline in March, according to the GSE’s latest monthly volume summary [2]. Freddie’s mortgage portfolio declined at an annualized rate of 2.9 percent in March.
The last time the GSE’s portfolio grew was in December, when it demonstrated an annualized growth rate of 0.4 percent.
Over the first three months of this year, the average annualized growth rate for Freddie Mac’s total mortgage portfolio is -2.3 percent, just slightly more accelerated than the -2.1 percent annual growth rate recorded for the year in 2013.
At month-end, the portfolio was valued at $1.904 trillion.
While the overall portfolio declined over the month, mortgage-related securities and other guarantee commitments ticked up slightly, posting a 0.1 percent annualized increase for the month.
The unpaid balance of Freddie Mac’s mortgage-related investments fell $7.8 billion in March.
Single-family refinance and guarantee volume made up just over half of Freddie Mac’s single-family volume in March—coming in at $7.1 billion, or 51 percent.
Based on unpaid principal volume, relief refinances accounted for 31 percent of March’s single-family refinance volume.
New multifamily business in March totaled $1 billion, bringing the year-to-date total to $3 billion.
Freddie Mac modified 5,964 loans in March and has modified 18,628 loans so far this year.
Delinquencies among both single-family and multifamily mortgages in Freddie Mac’s portfolio decreased in March. Freddie’s single-family delinquency rate stands at 2.2 percent, and its multifamily delinquency rate stands at 0.04 percent.