Freddie Mac bought $42.1 billion worth of loans in February, but sold or liquidated $45.2 billion loans, causing its mortgage portfolio to shrink at an annualized rate of 4.1% in February, according to its monthly volume summary report. 

The ongoing reduction shows the government-sponsored enterprise gradually decreasing its presence in the mortgage finance space, which is in line with housing officials plan to shrink the GSEs’ share of the sector. 

Single-family refinance-loan purchase and guarantee volume totaled $35.1 billion in February, representing 82% of total mortgage portfolio purchases of issuances. 

Additionally, relief refinance mortgages comprised 30% of the GSE’s total refinance volume during the month based on unpaid principal balance. 

Freddie Mac modified 6,686 loans in February and 14,102 for the two months ended Feb. 28.

The unpaid principal balance of the agency’s mortgage-related investment portfolio decreased to $7.3 billion, down from $7.5 billion in January. 

Seriously delinquent single-family mortgages shrunk from 3.20% in January to 3.15% in February. The multifamily delinquency rate also fell from 0.18% in January to 0.16% in February.

The measure of the GSE’s exposure to changes in the portfolio market value averaged $255 million in February, with a duration gap averaging zero months.