Ginnie Mae announced that it guaranteed $22.7 billion in mortgage backed securities (MBS) during March.
“The robust performance of the Ginnie Mae MBS continues to provide strong support for a still struggling economy,” said Theodore Tozer, Ginnie Mae president. “The dependable execution of the Ginnie Mae MBS in the secondary market is vital as our issuers work with overburdened homeowners towards building sustainable affordable housing despite the current economy.”
Issuance for Ginnie Mae II single-family pools totaled nearly $14 billion, while Ginnie Mae I single-family pools were nearly $8 billion. Total single-family issuance for March was more than $ 22 billion.
Issuance of Ginnie Mae HMBS fell from $1.447 Billion in February to $751 million in March according to data from agency. The 48% drop in guarantees shouldn’t come as a huge surprised as reverse mortgage volume has continued to decline over the past few months.
However, with lenders lowering margins and cutting origination fees on the HECM, many expect volume to start trending higher in the next few months. Below is a chart showing the last 12 months of HMBS issuance.
Former staffers from HUD, FHA and the GSEs weigh in on how to press ahead in this volatile reverse mortgage climate.