Bank of America ranked first among all warehouse providers in the second quarter with $12 billion of funding commitments, a 20% decline from a year ago, according to new figures compiled by National Mortgage News.
B of A's warehouse division is closely tied to its correspondent lending group, which is currently on the auction block. (Nationstar Mortgage, Lewisville, Texas, a division of Fortress Investment Group, has expressed interest in buying the unit.)
At this time the bank has no solid plans to exit the warehouse lending space, but it may consider selling that business too.
A few weeks ago, a bank spokesman told NMN that “that we may keep the warehouse business,” adding that it will “depend to some extent on the interests of a potential buyer for our correspondent business. Bottom line, the final decision has not been made and cannot until we are further in discussions. We continue to operate warehouse business as usual today.”
B of A's warehouse commitment volume for June 30 is an estimate based on interviews with warehouse managers at competing firms. The bank has refused to disclose the number publicly.
In June the bank's top warehouse executive, Paul Szymanski, left to take a position with PennyMac, a small REIT with big growth plans.
At June 30, Wells Fargo & Co., ranked second in terms of warehouse commitments ($4 billion), NMN found, followed by First Tennessee Bank with $1.9 billion. (See the Monday weekly edition of NMN for a complete analysis of B of A's warehouse business and related issues.)
