Fannie G-Fee Up 10%

The refinancing boom has allowed Fannie Mae to raise its guarantee fee by 10% over the last seven quarters, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.The average effective guarantee fee rate on its outstanding mortgage-backed securities rose to 20.5 basis points for the first nine months of 2003, up from 18.6 bps in the first nine months of 2002, Fannie Mae says in its third-quarter financial report. For the third quarter, the average effective guarantee fee rate on $1.23 trillion in outstanding Fannie Mae MBS was 20.0 bps. The secondary-market agency collected $613 million in guarantee fees in the third quarter. Fannie Mae attributed the fee increase to an "unprecedented level of refinancings together with increased risk-based pricing on new business." The company can be found on the Web at http://www.fanniemae.com.