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58 | Th e M Rep o RT O r i g i nat i O n s e r v i c i n g a na ly t i c s s e c O n da r y m a r k e t SECONDARY MARKET the latest SECONDARY MARKET Fannie mae's Book of Business declines at 2.7 Percent Single-family housing delinquencies drop amid a fall in business. F annie Mae's book of busi- ness shrank again in April, continuing an uninter- rupted streak of declines that started at the end of 2013. According to the enterprise's vol- ume summary report, the book's total value contracted in April at a compound negative growth rate of 2.7 percent. The latest drop brings the book's average year-to-date growth rate to -2.3 percent. As of April 30, the book's value was an estimated $3.14 trillion. The decline came from a drop in Fannie's gross mortgage port- folio, which shrank at a rate of 14.3 percent as sales and liquida- tions increased to offset a rise in purchase activity. Meanwhile, total mortgage- backed securities and other guaran- tees also fell, owing to an increased annualized rate of liquidations. As was the case at Freddie Mac, serious delinquency of single-family homes in Fannie's portfolio fell in April, ending the month at a rate of 2.13 percent, compared to 2.19 percent in March. At the same time, the multi- family delinquency rate climbed back up to 0.11 percent from 0.10 percent previously. Multifamily delinquency has swung between those two values since November. Fannie reported 11,321 loan modifications in April, while year-to-date modifications at the GSE totaled 47,365. small gains in Business, shrinking Portfolio For Freddie Despite lackluster indications from the GSe, single-family delinquency improved here, too. a fter sinking steadily for the last 10 months, new business activity has picked up slightly for Freddie Mac—though that didn't stop its portfolio from shrinking again. The mortgage giant released its volume summary for April at the end of last month, recording a negative annualized growth rate of 3.0 percent for its total mortgage portfolio. It was the highest rate of contraction since October, when the portfolio shrank at a rate of 6.4 percent. Purchases and issuances last month totaled $19.9 billion, a turnaround after months of declines that culminated in a low of $15.1 billion in March. Compared to last year, business in April remained down approximately 58 percent. At the same time, sales and liquidations both increased, wiping out the monthly gain in business and bringing down the portfolio's ending balance, which was estimated at just less than $1.9 trillion as of April 30. Meanwhile, credit quality continued to improve for the single-family market. Freddie Mac reported that the serious delinquency rate among its single- family mortgages was down to 2.15 percent in April from 2.20 percent in March. The multifamily delinquency rate rose slightly, edging upward to 0.05 percent. Single-family refinance- loan purchase and guarantee volume was $8.8 billion in April, representing 47 percent of Freddie's single-family portfolio purchases or issuances. Relief refinances made up approximately 28 percent of that activity, based on unpaid principal balance.