Ginnie Mae’s mortgage-backed securities (MBS) portfolio outstanding grew to $2.373 trillion at the end of Q1 2023, with the addition of $80 billion of MBS issuance during the period, with gross issuance ranging within $24-28 billion each month.
The first quarter’s new MBS issuance supported financing of more than 281,000 households, including more than 126,000 first-time homebuyers. Nearly 70% percent of the Q1 issuance volume reflects purchase money activity, resulting from a shift in market conditions, and reduced loan refinance activity due to higher interest rates.
While overall issuance volumes have declined over the past year, returning to a more normalized purchase money market, current origination volumes across all four agency partners, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Loan Guaranty Program (VA), U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Housing Services (RHS), and HUD’s Public and Indian Housing (PIH), reflect strong support for affordable housing and homeownership nationwide.
During Q1 2023, the mortgage loans pooled into Ginnie Mae MBS included more than 45,000 households who avoided foreclosure through our insuring and guarantying agencies partners’ loss mitigation programs. Ginnie Mae is proud to support our Issuers on the secondary capital markets and expand liquidity while supporting home retention efforts.
Q1 2023 issuance includes $77.15 billion of Ginnie Mae II MBS and $3.50 billion of Ginnie Mae I MBS, including approximately $3.13 billion in loans for multifamily housing. Approximately 30% of these multifamily MBS properties had Green or Green/Affordable designations from FHA’s lending program.
Ginnie Mae also announced the conclusion of its inaugural Digital Summit [1] at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., an event that brought together leaders from the housing finance sector to discuss the ongoing digital transformation of the U.S. mortgage industry. The Summit included expert-led panels that focused on the various government and private-sector digital initiatives currently underway, with particular emphasis on the importance of these efforts to the continued success of the U.S. housing sector.
Featured speakers at the event included Ginnie Mae President Alanna McCargo [2] and CIO Barbara Cooper-Jones [3], Fannie Mae SVP and CIO Ramon Richards [3], and John Bell III, Executive Director of the Home Loan Guaranty Program at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs [4], provided insights on how the transformative work and close partnership between agencies and the industry is expanding access to affordable homeownership across the nation.
“The summit was an excellent forum for exchanging ideas and insights on various digital transformation efforts across the housing finance industry,” said Sam Valverde, Principal EVP of Ginnie Mae [5]. “Collaboration between the private sector and federal agencies is key to maximizing the impact of digital tools, especially eMortgage adoption. By serving as a leading voice in the U.S. mortgage and housing industry, Ginnie Mae’s digital initiatives will continue to foster both a more resilient and efficient housing finance system and broader access to credit for American households.”