Riding a strong refinancing wave, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac watched their new business volume soar 80 percent between the first and second quarters to reach a near-record $463 billion in 2Q09, a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis reveals. This was up 53 percent from year ago levels and represented the highest quarterly government-sponsored enterprise volume seen since the refi boom of 2003.
Significantly, two-thirds of the GSE business in the second quarter came from Fannie Mae, which saw nearly $100 billion in seasoned loan securitizations during the three-month period. Among the major trends seen in the GSE market in the second quarter was low loan-to-value ratios and high average credit scores. These trends were more pronounced in Freddie’s 2Q09 business where the average LTV on new business fell to 66 percent while the average FICO rose to 764.
