Business Declines at Freddie Mac as 2012 Closes

After climbing into positive territory for the first time in two years, ""Freddie Mac's"":http://www.freddiemac.com/ total mortgage portfolio decreased sharply in December.

According to the GSE's ""Monthly Volume Summary"":http://www.freddiemac.com/investors/volsum/pdf/1212mvs.pdf for December, its total portfolio shrank at an annualized rate of 12.9 percent in the year's final month, bringing 2012's average monthly growth rate to -5.7 percent.

As of December 31, the portfolio's ending balance stood at about $1.96 trillion, down from November's $1.98 trillion.

According to the summary, Freddie Mac's purchase and issuance activity was about $33.6 billion in December, a little more than half of what was reported for November. Purchase and issuance volume for all of 2012 was about $473.8 billion.

Mortgage-related securities and other guarantee commitments shrank at an annualized rate of 12.6 percent in December--the greatest rate of contraction recorded all year. The average annualized rate of growth in 2012 was -3.7 percent.

Freddie Mac's single-family refinance loan purchase and guarantee volume was $22.5 billion in December, representing about 67 percent of its total mortgage portfolio purchases and issuances.

Single-family seriously delinquency remained flat in December with a rate of 3.25 percent. The multifamily delinquency rate fell considerably, dropping to a 2012 low of 0.19 percent.

According to Freddie Mac, the total number of loan modifications in its portfolio was 6,288 in December, down almost 400 from November. The GSE recorded 69,581 modifications throughout 2012.