CHICAGO, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Municipal bond sale volume crept higher in November from October's near-frozen market, but lagged year-earlier volume by 22 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Municipal bond sales totaled nearly $22.9 billion in 506 deals this month, down from $29.5 billion in 1,016 deals in November 2007, but up from last month's $19.3 billion of debt in 501 deals.
Still, year-to-date volume was only down by 6 percent at $363 billion in 9,495 deals versus $386 billion in 11,020 deals during the same period in 2007, Thomson Reuters reported.
Competitively bid deals in November had the biggest decline, totaling only $1.1 billion in 143 deals, compared to $6.1 billion in 325 deals a year ago.
Minnesota, for example, has had a $445 million general obligation competitive sale ready to go since October, but market conditions that included limited liquidity and escalating yields forced the state the wait on pricing the deal, according to Kathy Kardell, the state's assistant treasury commissioner.
'We're going to try again in January,' she said, noting that few sizable competitive deals have been priced this fall.
The out-of-whack relationship between munis and U.S. Treasuries set new records in November, with top-rated 30-year munis yielding an all-time high of 148 percent of comparable Treasuries on Tuesday, according to Municipal Market Data, a service of Thomson Reuters.
Citigroup (nyse: C - news - people ) retained its title as top muni senior underwriter as November ended, despite severe financial problems that led to a U.S. government bailout this week, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Insured long-term issuance in November totaled only $3.84 billion in 87 deals, a 70 percent drop from a year earlier when $12.9 billion of muni debt in 405 deals carried insurance.
Financial Security Assurance and Assured Guaranty (nyse:AGO - news - people ) , which both lost their triple-A ratings from Moody's (nyse: MCO - news - people ) Investors Service last Friday, were the two top bond insurers so far this year. Top-rated Berkshire Hathaway (nyse: BRK - news - people ) Assurance came in a distant third.
Investors appeared to give little weight to insurance even from unblemished guarantors like Berkshire. A $112 million Arlington, Texas, special tax revenue bond issue it insured this week fetched a top yield of 5.73 percent in 2027, well above MMD's triple-A scale yield of 5.08 percent. The bonds carried underlying ratings in the 'A' category.
(Reporting by Karen Pierog; Editing by Leslie Adler) Keywords: MUNICIPALS VOLUME/
(karen.pierog@thomsonreuters.com; 1 312 408 8647; Reuters Messaging: karen.pierog.reuters.com@reuters.net)
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