Resigned to the fact that purchase mortgage volume is unlikely to make up for any decline in refinancing activity, Stonegate Mortgage is focused on improving efficiency and increasing per-loan profits over trying to stimulate growth in loan volume, according to CEO Jim Cutillo.
Here are some additional highlights from Cutillo's presentation at Tuesday's Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Mortgage Finance Conference in New York:
- Super-regional banks will continue to have an interest in mortgage servicing rights investments despite Basel III capital restrictions, Cutillo said.
- The company finds that oftentimes, organic hiring can be more effective than an outright acquisition.
- However, Stonegate is still interested in select acquisition opportunities. A government mortgage lending business near an Army post, for example, might be of interest to the company, Cutillo said.
- The Federal Housing Administration's move to make its loans more affordable has spurred more streamline refinances and purchase lending.
- When asked if there was excess capacity in originations, he said, "not in the first quarter."
