Fannie Reports Big Drop in Loan Purchases

Mortgage purchases fell 18% at Fannie Mae in September from the previous month to the lowest level since April 2012 as the refinancing business continued to shrink.

The GSE reported late Thursday afternoon that it acquired $56 billion in mortgages in September, down from $68 billion in the month prior.

As previously reported, Freddie purchased $28 billion in loans in September, down 21.5% from August.

Fannie’s September monthly summary report shows that it made new commitments to purchase $53 billion in loans from its seller/servicers, up $2 billion from the prior month, which might indicate loan production is stabilizing.

The GSE also issued $53 billion in MBS in September, down 20% from the prior month.

Meanwhile, the serious delinquency rate on Fannie's guaranteed single-family portfolio fell six basis points from August to 2.5% in September.

A year ago, Fannie had a 3.4% serious delinquency rate.