[1]Fannie Mae [2]'s gross mortgage portfolio took a huge downward turn in November, while the mortgage giant's Book of Business inched upward, according to Fannie Mae's November 2014 Monthly Summary [3] released earlier this week.
The balance of the gross mortgage portfolio dropped from $4.36 billion in October [4] down to $4.24 billion in November, marking the 52nd time in the last 53 months Fannie Mae's portfolio declined month-over-month. With the exception of December 2012, when the portfolio grew in value at a compound annualized rate of 1 percent, the value of the portfolio has declined every month since June 2010. At the end of that month four and a half years ago, the portfolio's value was almost $818 billion.
Year-to-date for the first 11 months of 2014, the gross mortgage portfolio has declined by an average compound annualized rate of 14.7 percent. November's decline of 28.9 percent marked the fifth-largest month-over-month decline the portfolio has experienced since the conservatorship began in September 2008. In January 2010, it declined by 44.8 percent; and in three straight months in July to September 2013, it declined by 32.4 percent, 29.6 percent, and 29.1 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, Fannie Mae's Book of Business increased in November at a compound annualized rate of 0.7 percent up to $3.12 trillion, marking only the second time in the last 12 months the Book of Business has increased month-over-month. Year-to-date, the Book of Business has declined at an average compound annual rate of 1.5 percent.
Also in November, the serious delinquency rate on Fannie Mae's conventional single-family mortgage loans declined by one basis point from October down to 1.91 percent. November marked the 36th month in a row the serious delinquency rate declined at least one basis point month-over-month; the last time the rate did not decline was when it held steady at 4.0 percent from October to November 2011.
The value of Fannie Mae's mortgage-backed securities and other guarantees totaled $2.791 trillion in November, representing an annualized compound rate month-over-month decline of 1.0 percent after experiencing an increase in three of the previous four months. Year-to-date for the period ending November 30, 2014, MBS and other guarantees for Fannie Mae has declined at an average compound annualized rate of 0.5 percent.
Fannie Mae completed 7,417 loan modifications in November, down from 9,540 completed in October. Year-to-date for the period ending November 30, 2014, Fannie Mae has completed 113,872 loan mods.