Fannie Purchases Rise in September, But...

Fannie Mae purchased $44.1 billion in mortgages during September, a 9% increase from the previous month, according to new figures released by the company. The rise in acquisitions occurred during a month in which the Congressionally-chartered mortgage giant was taken over by its regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Even though September's purchase volume was an improvement from August, acquisitions were down 33% compared to September 2007, reflecting residential originations in the primary market. The company reported that 1.57% of its loans were in delinquency, compared to 1.45% the prior month. A year ago, late payments on Fannie Mae loans were less than half at 0.71%. At month's end Fannie had $761.4 billion of loans and securities in portfolio, a slight rise from August. But compared to September 2007, its holdings are up 5%.