Freddie Mac bought $43.1 billion worth of loans in January, but sold or liquidated $46.9 billion, causing its mortgage portfolio to shrink at an annualized rate of 4.8% in January, according to its monthly volume summary report.

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

Single-family refinance-loan purchase and guarantee volume totaled $34.5 billion in January, representing 80% 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 modified 7,416 loans in August, up from 6,288 modifications in December.

The unpaid principal balance on the agency’s mortgage-related investment portfolio decreased to $7.5 billion, up from $5.6 billion in December.

Seriously delinquent single-family mortgages shrunk from 3.25% in December to 3.20% in January. The multifamily delinquency rate also fell from 0.19% to 0.18% during the month. 

The measure of our exposure to changes in portfolio market value average $203 million in January, with a duration gap averaging zero months.