Fannie Mae reported this week that delinquencies in its mortgage portfolio are still rising even as the financier's portfolio size shrinks. Fannie said October's serious delinquencies, those at least 90 days behind, rose to 4.98% on single-family homes from 4.72% in September and 1.89% in October 2008.
The report also showed that Fannie's mortgage portfolio fell 2.5% in November to $752.22 billion, or a 26% annual rate. The mortgage financier's book of business, including mortgage-backed securities and other guarantees, fell $18.58 billion to $3.22 trillion. Its annualized rate of decline was 6.7% for the month.
In addition, Fannie's net commitments to purchase mortgages fell 1.9% to $ 63.27 billion in November from the prior month.
More than a year ago, Fannie Mae and smaller sibling Freddie Mac were put into conservatorship by the federal government amid fears of mounting losses. The Treasury Department thus far has provided $60 billion of capital to Fannie Mae and $51 billion to Freddie Mac.
