Freddie Expands Portfolio, MBS Issuance Still Fairly Slow

A Freddie Mac report shows the agency expanded its mortgage portfolio by over $40 billion in November, but its issuance of mortgage-backed securities remains relatively meager. The secondary market agency said it purchased $10 billion of its own MBS in November for its investment portfolio, which totaled $805.4 billion as of Nov. 30. However, Freddie issued only $14.5 billion in MBS in November, up slightly from $13.5 billion in October. Ginnie Mae issued $27 billion in single-family MBS in November. Freddie's monthly report also shows that single-family mortgage defaults continue to rise at a fast clip. Since October, loans 90-days or more past due are up 18 basis points to 1.52% as of Nov. 30. In November 2007, only 0.6% of Freddie guaranteed loans were seriously delinquent.