2018 capped a remarkable decade of growth for Ginnie Mae. We reached $2 trillion in outstanding mortgage-backed securities (MBS), which represents considerable growth from less than $427.6 billion in 2007. Our role in the mortgage market continued to grow, and in 2018 we served nearly 1.9 million American households, and celebrated our 50th anniversary of providing capital to the housing market to help more Americans achieve the goal of homeownership through government lending programs. In our 2018 Annual Report, we take a look back at our accomplishments in the past fiscal year. These include:
Growing our relationships with our largest investors, both long-time and newcomers. We have recognized the importance of finding new, dedicated investors across the globe. The top four countries investing in Ginnie Mae in 2018, based on estimated value of Ginnie Mae holdings among investors from those nations, were Taiwan, Japan, China and Ireland.
Focusing on the intersection of investor and borrower needs, while also protecting taxpayers. Our commitment to this mission led to our decision to sanction a small group of Issuers whose loan performance damaged the integrity of our securities and our ability to effectively serve American homeowners. We have not hesitated to police our program in order to provide the best possible mortgage rate to consumers and a market-predictable MBS to our investors. Monitoring the performance of our security is now part of the routine business of Ginnie Mae, and additional steps can be expected throughout the next year.
Strategically investing in technology and process redesign. Early in 2018, we successfully completed our first three waves of IT infrastructure migration from our pool processing agent to a government SmartCloud. During the year we also announced our commitment to modifying the MBS program to permit the inclusion of mortgages that exist only in digital form, an initiative that will be shaped into a pilot program in 2019. We will continue to invest in technology in the upcoming fiscal year, making enhancements outlined in our June 2018 white paper “Ginnie Mae 2020.”
Responding proactively to the fact that more and more of our Issuers are independent nonbank mortgage lenders. These groups are often efficient at mortgage servicing, but are not subject to federal safety and soundness regulations. This reality requires Ginnie Mae to focus on ensuring the strength and liquidity of our partners and the mortgage market that we serve. To that end, we evolved our approach to counterparty risk management in 2018, and we will take additional steps in 2019 and beyond.
As elected officials continue to debate how best to reform the broader U.S. housing market, Ginnie Mae has and will continue to provide insight on the relevant aspects of administering an explicit government guaranty. Meanwhile, in the new year we’ll continue to do our part to ensure that secondary market capital flows to a safe, liquid and accessible residential mortgage market.
Read Ginnie Mae’s 2018 Annual Report.