Fannie Mae (FNMA)

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Government Lending Bucked the Third Quarter Downturn Trend

By John Bancroft [e-mail]

The bottom fell out of the mortgage-refinance market in the third quarter of 2015, and not even an historic surge in purchase-money lending could pick up the slack, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis and ranking.

An estimated 32.5 percent freefall in refi originations during 3Q had a much bigger impact on the conventional market than on government-insured lending. Conventional-conforming mortgage production fell an estimated 8.8 percent from the second quarter, and jumbo lending was down 8.6 percent.

Meanwhile, government lending held steady, with a modest 0.9 percent decline from the second quarter. Refinance loans accounted for just 32.4 percent of Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities issuance during the third quarter, but they continued to account for 47.6 percent of single-family MBS issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Compared to 2014, the refi market was still roaring through the first nine months of this year.