TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/1379186
M REPORT | 61 SECONDARY MARKET THE LATEST O R I G I NAT I O N S E R V I C I N G DATA G O V E R N M E N T S E C O N DA R Y M A R K E T Ginnie Mae Reports Record MBS Issuance in April Ginnie Mae's mortgage-backed securities volume continues to soar in 2021, following another solid April report of $89.70 billion in volume. G innie Mae reported that its mortgage-backed securities (MBS) issuance volume for April 2021 was a record $89.70 billion. This total marks another strong month for Ginnie Mae, with its now- record issuance volume up from $82.25 billion issued in March, $77 billion issued in February, and $82.6 billion issued in January. Approximately 332,300 homes and apartment units were financed by Ginnie Mae guaranteed MBS in April of 2021. "Investors continue to add Ginnie Mae MBS to their fixed- income portfolios because of the high-quality and liquidity of the securities," Ginnie Mae Acting Executive Vice President Michael Drayne said. "Our commitment to maintain a strong and flexible MBS program that produces the types of securities investors de- mand is the foundation of Ginnie Mae's ability to finance afford- able homeownership and rental housing." A breakdown of April issuance of $89.70 billion includes $85.48 billion of Ginnie Mae II MBS and $4.22 billion of Ginnie Mae I MBS, which includes $4.16 billion of loans for multifamily housing. Ginnie Mae's total outstanding principal balance as of April 30 was $2.109 trillion, up from $2.095 trillion in March, and down slightly from the April 2020 level of $2.145 trillion. Ginnie Mae continues to lend a hand to struggling homeown- ers nationwide, working with an estimated 2.2 million homeowners currently in forbearance plans, ac- cording to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Of that total, the share of Ginnie Mae loans in forbearance decreased 20 basis points this week to just 5.82% of the overall volume. "Homeowners who have exited forbearance and been able to take up their original payment again are performing at almost the same rate as the overall mortgage servicing portfolio," said Mike Fratantoni, MBA's SVP and Chief Economist.