The issuance of subprime mortgage-backed securities rose in February and March, but was off 15.8% for the whole quarter compared with that of the first quarter of last year, according to a Friedman Billings Ramsey report.The Arlington, Va.-based investment banking firm reported that the issuance of non-agency subprime MBS fell to $122.5 billion in the first quarter, compared with $145.5 billion in the same period in 2006. However, monthly issuance increased from $37.2 billion in January to $41.9 billion in February and $43.5 billion in March. The monthly issuance of subprime MBS averaged $43.1 billion in 2006, according to the April 13 FBR Investment Management report. FBR can be found on the Web at http://www.fbr.com.
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