Single-family loan originations by commercial banks and savings banks fell 8.5% in the fourth quarter to $253.1 billion, and the entire decline occurred in the wholesale channel, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. call report data. Wholesale originations of one- to four-family loans totaled $161.8 billion in the fourth quarter, down from $179.6 billion in the third quarter. In the second quarter of last year, when Wall Street was still buying subprime and alternative-A loans, wholesale originations totaled $236.3 billion. Meanwhile, retail originations by the 688 reporting banks edged up slightly to $91.3 billion in the fourth quarter. The FDIC data also show that banks sold $262.7 billion in single-family loans in the fourth quarter. Only commercial banks and FDIC-supervised savings banks with at least $1 billion in assets, or smaller banks with at least $10 million in originations over the past the two quarters, are required to report origination data to the FDIC.
