""Fannie Mae's"":http://www.fanniemae.com past due loans continue to decline. The GSE reported Tuesday the conventional single-family serious delinquency rate was 2.70 percent in July, down seven basis points from June. The multifamily serious delinquency rate dropped 10 basis points to 0.18 percent.
Fannie Mae completed 11,870 loan modifications during the month, bringing the year's total to 95,381 for the first seven months of 2013.
[IMAGE] [COLUMN_BREAK]The GSE's total book of business shrank for the second consecutive month in July as its gross mortgage portfolio continued to decline, the company reported in its monthly volume summary.
According to Fannie Mae, the company's book of business shrank at a compound rate of 1.7 percent in July, slowing down slightly from June's rate of 1.9 percent. Year-to-date, the book's monthly movement averaged -1.1 percent as of July 31.
The book's value totaled approximately $3.169 trillion at the end of the month, down about $5 billion from June.
After slowing in June, the ongoing contraction in Fannie Mae's gross mortgage portfolio picked up speed, climbing to an annual rate of -32.4 percent.
The last time the GSE's portfolio plummeted that quickly was January 2010, when the rate was -44.8 percent. Year-to-date through July, the portfolio's average monthly contraction rate was -22.1 percent.
Meanwhile, new business acquisitions did a little better, edging up to $73.4 billion from June's $72.6 billion.