Ginnie Mae MBS Activity Soars in First Half of 2008

Fueled by a huge surge in FHA lending, issuance of Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities jumped a whopping 188 percent on a year-over-year basis in the first six months of 2008. Countrywide continued to edge out Wells Fargo for the title of top Ginnie Mae issuer in the first half – but not by much. Countrywide issued $22.3 billion in Ginnie Mae securities while Wells produced $21.2 billion, a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking reveals. Third place JPMorgan Chase posted the largest increase of the top five issuers with a huge 355 percent increase in Ginnie Mae MBS issuance.

Top Mortgage Servicers See Little Growth in Early 2008

The country’s largest mortgage servicers, who are struggling with reduced originations and rising defaults, saw very little growth in their servicing volume in early 2008.

According to new numbers compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance, the top 25 servicers as a group posted only a 0.8 percent increase in their total servicing in the first quarter of the year. But on a year-over-year basis, the top servicers saw a healthy 10 percent rise in their servicing volume – thanks in part to ongoing consolidation and the demise of a number of smaller servicers.

As of March 30, Countrywide just barely edged out Wells Fargo for the top mortgage servicer title. Countrywide held $1.484 trillion in servicing compared to Wells Fargo’s $1.483 trillion in volume.