MBS Issuance Creeps Up in '07

The issuance of U.S. mortgage-related securities managed to increase slightly in 2007 to $2.04 trillion, from $1.99 trillion in 2006, despite a sharp drop in volume in the fourth quarter, according to data from the Securities and Industry Financial Markets Association. "While private-label MBS issuance decreased by 15.2% to $655.6 billion from 2006's $773.2 billion, agency MBS issuance became the more dominant portion of the market," the association said. SIFMA can be found on the Web at http://www.sifma.org.