Little Change in Top Servicers in 2Q09 as Market Shrinks

There was virtually no change in the ranks of the nation’s top mortgage servicers in the second quarter as a combination of pay downs and foreclosure sales continued to reduce the total amount of servicing outstanding. According to a new ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance, Bank of America continued as the top servicer with $2.1 trillion in volume and a 19 percent market share as of June 30. Wells Fargo followed in second place with $1.8 trillion in servicing and a 16 percent market share, Chase rounded out the top three with $1.4 trillion and a 13 percent market share. Together, the top three accounted for nearly half of the $10.98 trillion in mortgages
outstanding in the U.S. as of the first half mark.

Wells and BofA Continue to Dominate Mortgage Activity in 2009

Wells Fargo and Bank of America posted a very strong second quarter in terms of mortgage originations, continuing their reign as the top two producers by far in the U.S. According to the latest Inside Mortgage Finance ranking published this week, Wells finished the first half as the top lender with $233.89 billion in new mortgage originations and a 24 percent market share, while BofA came in second with $203.6 billion in volume and a 21 percent market share. Together, the two mortgage giants now account for close to half of the new loans made in this country. Rounding out the top five mortgage producers in the latest Inside Mortgage Finance ranking are Chase in third place with $81.4 billion in volume, Citi in fourth place with $55.8 billion and GMAC in fifth with an estimated $31.2 billion.

Mid-size Lenders Now Dominate Business with Mortgage Brokers

With a major shift away from buying loans from mortgage brokers by the largest banks in the country, mid-size lenders–often non-banks–are now dominating the broker business. According to the latest ranking by
Inside Mortgage Finance, only one major bank–Wells Fargo–made the top five lenders in terms of mortgage broker originations during the first quarter of 2009. Provident Funding in California was the top originator of loans acquired from brokers in the first quarter with a 14.1 percent market share, followed by Wells Fargo (13.6 percent), AmTrust Bank (10.1 percent), Taylor Bean & Whitaker (7.7 percent), and MetLife Home Loans (6.8 percent).

Top Three Banks Now Account for Almost Half of All Mortgage Servicing

Thanks to a flurry of merger activity late last year, the top three banks in the country –Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase– now service nearly half of all mortgage loans. According to the latest ranking from Inside Mortgage Finance, the three firms together held a huge $5.4 trillion in mortgage servicing as of March 31, 2009. BofA was the top mortgage servicer with $2.1 trillion in volume, followed by Wells with $1.8 trillion and Chase with $1.5 trillion.

Direct Mortgage Originations Fell 41.7% in 2008

Non-correspondent lending fell by 41.7 percent in 2008, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Mortgage Finance. Lenders originated $1.01 trillion in retail and wholesale/broker mortgages in 2008. Wells Fargo was the top direct originator, with $154.28 billion in such originations. Bank of America trailed closely with $142.80 billion in direct originations in 2008.

Refi Share Increases in Fourth Quarter of 2008

Purchase originations dropped off in the fourth quarter of 2008 while refinances increased slightly, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Mortgage Finance. An estimated $116.0 billion refinance mortgages were originated in the fourth quarter of 2008, accounting for 46.4 percent of all originations. That was up from a 37.0 percent share the previous quarter. In 2008, refis accounted for 51.1 percent of originations.