4th quarter production $110.9 billion
By MortgageDaily.com staff
1/26/2005

Freddie Mac saw its second month of increased business purchases, while its duration gap moved after being unchanged for more than a year.

The government-sponsored enterprise's business purchases of $41.9 billion grew 21% from November, according to its latest monthly volume summary. The increase pushed volume to the highest level since July and marked the second consecutive month of improvement after a four-month descending trend.

During the fourth quarter, volume was $110.9 billion, off slightly from $117.7 in the third quarter.

Business purchases for all of 2004 totaled $494.6 billion -- plummeting from the previous year's $826.4 billion, Freddie reported.

The total mortgage portfolio's balance of $1.5 trillion at the year's end grew at annualized rate of 6.5%, consisting of a $0.7 trillion retained portfolio and $0.9 trillion in issued participation certificates, the McLean, Va.-based company said.

The delinquency rate, which Freddie reports on a one-month lag, for single-family loans past due 90 days or more was 0.75% in November, up two basis points from the prior month.

After more than a year at zero, the average duration gap reportedly edged down to negative one month in December. The duration gap is the balance of its cash flows from assets and liabilities.

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