WASHINGTON The issuance of mortgage-related securities more than doubled in the first half from a year earlier, to a record $664.2 billion, the Bond Market Association reported Friday.
Second-quarter issuance surged 70.7% from the first quarter, to $418.8 billion. The totals include agency and private-label mortgage-backed securities and collateralized mortgage obligations.
Lower interest rates and increased originations spurred by a strong housing market helped stimulate agency mortgage securitization, the trade group said.
The previous first-half record of $641 billion was set in 1999.
Among the government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Maes MBS volume had the strongest first-half growth 158.8% from a year earlier, to $226.7 billion. Freddie Macs MBS volume increased 149.8%, to $157.3 billion, while Ginnie Maes rose 75.6%, to $75.7 billion.
