Weekly Real Estate News
Summary
Freddie Mac's October 26 report shows its total mortgage portfolio reached $3.7108 trillion in September. Single-family serious delinquency rose to 0.61% while multifamily delinquency fell to 0.58%. September purchases or issuances were $36.337 billion; refinance purchases were $5.4 billion. Figures are unaudited.
Freddie Mac’s mortgage portfolio climbed to $3.71 trillion in September even as its monthly purchase volume eased and delinquency measures moved in opposite directions for single-family and apartment loans.
The government-sponsored enterprise reported a total mortgage portfolio of $3.7108 trillion at September 30, up approximately $4.24 billion from August. Its monthly purchases or issuances totaled $36.34 billion, down from $38.26 billion in August. The figures were released October 26 in Freddie Mac’s September Monthly Volume Summary, an unaudited report that the company says is subject to change.
Freddie Mac’s portfolio grew at a 1.4% annualized rate during September. The modest increase illustrates a market in which a large stock of outstanding loans can continue to expand while new monthly activity softens. Purchases or issuances and the ending portfolio balance are different measures and should not be read interchangeably.
Single-family and multifamily delinquencies move apart
The serious delinquency rate for single-family mortgages increased from 0.60% in August to 0.61% in September. It was 0.57% in September 2025. Freddie Mac defines this measure by the number of single-family loans at least three monthly payments past due or in foreclosure.
The multifamily delinquency rate moved down to 0.58% from 0.64% in August, although it remained above the 0.51% recorded a year earlier. That metric is based on unpaid principal balances of apartment loans at least two payments past due or in foreclosure, with certain compliant forbearance loans excluded.
The two percentages describe different populations and use different measurement methods. A one-month decline in multifamily delinquency cannot establish that the broader apartment financing market has recovered; likewise, the one-basis-point increase in single-family serious delinquency does not by itself demonstrate a sharp deterioration in household mortgage credit.
| Freddie Mac measure | August 2026 | September 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Total mortgage portfolio | $3.7066 trillion | $3.7108 trillion |
| Monthly purchases or issuances | $38.26 billion | $36.34 billion |
| Single-family serious delinquency | 0.60% | 0.61% |
| Multifamily delinquency | 0.64% | 0.58% |
| Mortgage-related investments portfolio | $138.45 billion | $135.44 billion |
Source: Freddie Mac’s September 2026 Monthly Volume Summary. Portfolio figures are rounded.
Refinancing remains a minority of purchases
Single-family refinance purchases reached $5.4 billion in September, accounting for 18% of Freddie Mac’s single-family mortgage purchases that month. The share is important for lenders watching the effects of higher mortgage rates: it measures the composition of loans Freddie Mac purchased, rather than the percentage of all U.S. borrowers who refinanced.
Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage survey put the average 30-year fixed rate at 7.32% on October 22. That later rate reading provides context for the pressure on refinancing demand, but it should not be applied retroactively as the average rate on mortgages Freddie Mac purchased in September.
The September summary also showed that the mortgage-related investments portfolio contracted to $135.44 billion from $138.45 billion a month earlier. Purchases of roughly $25.08 billion were outweighed by sales of $26.88 billion and liquidations of $1.21 billion. Freddie Mac’s broader mortgage guarantee portfolio, meanwhile, rose to approximately $3.5984 trillion.
The company’s investment portfolio and guarantee portfolio serve different purposes. The first contains mortgage assets held by Freddie Mac; the second reflects securities and other mortgage-related guarantees. They should not be added together as though they were separate categories of household mortgage debt. The total mortgage portfolio disclosure follows the company’s own reporting conventions and does not necessarily reconcile to consolidated balance-sheet figures in SEC filings.
What lenders and servicers can take from the numbers
For originators, the $5.4 billion refinance figure is a useful gauge of Freddie Mac’s purchased refinance activity during September, though it does not include every channel of U.S. mortgage production. For servicers, the delinquency measures offer a timely view of payment stress across the enterprise’s book. For apartment lenders, the improvement in September’s multifamily delinquency rate is worth watching alongside loan maturities, property cash flow and refinancing conditions.
The figures also carry a timing limitation. September’s balances are measured as of month-end, and the report was released nearly four weeks later. They do not capture subsequent October market moves, policy announcements or loans that may have entered or exited delinquency after the reporting date.
Freddie Mac’s separate October 26 announcement of a $243.4 million securitization of seasoned loans illustrates another way the company manages mortgage assets. That deal was priced in October and is not a component of September’s purchase-volume figure.
Freddie Mac remains under federal conservatorship. Its monthly report provides one of the most detailed recurring snapshots of its mortgage purchases, credit performance and portfolio management, but the next releases will be needed to establish whether September’s divergence in delinquency rates persists.
