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Ginnie Mae’s mortgage-backed securities (MBS) portfolio outstanding grew to $2.404 trillion in the month of May, including $34 billion of total MBS issuance, leading to $14 billion of net growth. Issuance for this month was $1 billion higher than April’s reported total of $33 billion, and $6 billion higher than March’s recorded total of $28 billion.
May’s new MBS issuance supports the financing of more than 113,000 households, including more than 55,000 first-time homebuyers. Approximately 75% of the May MBS issuance reflects new mortgages that support home purchases, as refinance activity remained low due to higher mortgage rates. To date in 2023, Ginnie Mae has supported the pooling and securitization of more than 232,000 first-time homebuyer loans.
The May issuance includes $33 billion of Ginnie Mae II MBS and $1 billion of Ginnie Mae I MBS, including approximately $990 million in loans for multifamily housing.
To close out the first quarter of 2023, Ginnie Mae’s MBS portfolio outstanding grew to $2.373 trillion, with the addition of $80 billion of MBS issuance during the period, with gross issuance ranging within $24-28 billion each month.
While Ginnie Mae has reported that 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 its insuring and guarantying agencies partners’ loss mitigation programs. Q1 2023’s new MBS issuance supported the financing of more than 281,000 households, including more than 126,000 first-time homebuyers. Nearly 70% percent of the issuance in first quarter 2023 volume reflects purchase money activity, resulting from a shift in market conditions and reduced loan refinance activity due to higher interest rates.
