Wells Emerges as New King of the Mortgage Market

Despite JPMorgan Chase’s acquisition of Washington Mutual and Bank of America’s purchase of Countrywide and Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo is emerging as the top player in the residential mortgage market – and that’s not even factoring in Wells’ planned acquisition of Wachovia.

According to the Inside Mortgage Finance MBS Database, Wells Fargo easily topped the ranking of top agency mortgage security issuers in the first three quarters of this year with a whopping $164.0 billion in Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae business. Roughly 90 percent of new originations are now being funneled through the Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie MBS programs.

Significantly, Wells is currently doing more mortgage business than the combined Countrywide/BofA mortgage operation. In the third quarter, Wells did $49.1 billion in agency MBS volume compared to BofA’s $34.2 billion. JPMorgan Chase emerged as the second most active mortgage market player in the latest quarter with $35.2 billion in agency MBS production.

Ginnie Mae MBS Activity Soars in First Half of 2008

Fueled by a huge surge in FHA lending, issuance of Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities jumped a whopping 188 percent on a year-over-year basis in the first six months of 2008. Countrywide continued to edge out Wells Fargo for the title of top Ginnie Mae issuer in the first half – but not by much. Countrywide issued $22.3 billion in Ginnie Mae securities while Wells produced $21.2 billion, a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking reveals. Third place JPMorgan Chase posted the largest increase of the top five issuers with a huge 355 percent increase in Ginnie Mae MBS issuance.

Mortgage Stocks Rebound Slightly, But GSE Concerns Linger

Many major players in the residential mortgage market remained on financial thin ice this week as last week’s government closure of IndyMac Bank and lingering concerns about Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s ability to weather the ongoing mortgage crisis continued to spook investors. Yesterday, financial stocks saw a rebound as mortgage lending giant Wells Fargo posted better than expected second quarter results.

Despite the small uptick, most mortgage-related stocks remained at very depressed levels. Together the two government-sponsored enterprises have watched more than $50 billion of their market capitalization vanish this year. And in a sign of the times, Fannie Mae is now worth 20 percent less than Bed, Bath and Beyond in terms of market capitalization.

Update on Loss Mitigation Strategies in 2008 Focus of New Event

Mortgage industry experts will provide a detailed look at what foreclosure avoidance and management strategies are working in the current depressed housing market on May 20 at 3 p.m. at an important new audio conference from Inside Mortgage Finance. Featured speakers from Wells Fargo, PMI and Freddie Mac are headlining the program. Additionally, results from a major new study of mortgage lender loss mitigation practices will be released at this must-attend event. Click here for more info.

Top Mortgage Servicers See Little Growth in Early 2008

The country’s largest mortgage servicers, who are struggling with reduced originations and rising defaults, saw very little growth in their servicing volume in early 2008.

According to new numbers compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance, the top 25 servicers as a group posted only a 0.8 percent increase in their total servicing in the first quarter of the year. But on a year-over-year basis, the top servicers saw a healthy 10 percent rise in their servicing volume – thanks in part to ongoing consolidation and the demise of a number of smaller servicers.

As of March 30, Countrywide just barely edged out Wells Fargo for the top mortgage servicer title. Countrywide held $1.484 trillion in servicing compared to Wells Fargo’s $1.483 trillion in volume.

Audio Conference to Examine 2008 Foreclosure Environment

A detailed look at this year’s challenging foreclosure climate and what strategies major mortgage market players are using to cope with it is the subject of an important new audio conference being offered by Inside Mortgage Finance. on May 20. Featured speakers from PMI, Freddie Mac and Wells Fargo are headlining the program. Additionally, results from a major new study of mortgage lender foreclosure practices will be released at this must-attend event. Click here for more info.