Freddie Mac [1] released its monthly volume summary [2] for January 2014, noting its total mortgage portfolio decreased at an annualized rate of 1.9 percent in January. Except for a slight uptick in December, the portfolio’s ending balance has been declining since July 2013.
The summary notes the unpaid principal balance (UPB) of mortgage-related investments decreased by approximately $7.1 billion in January.
Mortgage-related securities and other commitments increased at an annualized rate of 1 percent in January, down from the previous month’s growth rate of 2.3 percent.
Single-family refinance-loan purchase and guarantee volume was $10.5 billion in January, representing 55 percent of total single-family mortgage portfolio purchases or issuances.
Single-family loans saw their seriously delinquent rate decrease, falling from 2.39 percent in December to 2.34 percent in January. The multi-family delinquent rate decreased slightly from 0.09 percent in December to 0.05 percent in January
The report notes, "Relief refinance mortgages comprised approximately 34 percent of our total single-family refinance volume during January 2014 based on unpaid principal balance."
Freddie Mac reported 6,094 loan modifications for the month of January 2014.