The Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) guaranteed more than $33.5 billion in mortgage backed securities in December.
“Ginnie Mae continues to be a vital part of the nation’s economic recovery,” said Ginnie Mae President Ted Tozer. “Clearly, investors appreciate the 100 percent government guarantee. The Ginnie Mae MBS has maintained a strong investor base throughout the downturn; and without the stability that Ginnie Mae provides, recovery in the housing sector would have been much slower.”
Issuance for Ginnie Mae II single-family pools totaled over $18.46 billion in December. Issuance for the Ginnie Mae I single-family pools topped $12.28 billion and issuance for the HECM Mortgage-Backed Security (HMBS) was more than $1.02 billion in December. Total single- family issuance for December was more than $31.76 billion. Ginnie Mae’s multifamily MBS issuance was over $1.74 billion.
While reverse mortgage volume was down 35 percent during 2010, HMBS issuance reached $10.791 billion, up 26.39 percent from last year.
The program has been the backbone of the secondary market after Fannie Mae announced it would no longer purchase reverse mortgages last October. The GSE said it has a $50.8 billion portfolio of reverse mortgages as of September 30, 2010.
Former staffers from HUD, FHA and the GSEs weigh in on how to press ahead in this volatile reverse mortgage climate.