JPMorgan Chase & Co. chairman and chief executive Jamie Dimon told investors Tuesday afternoon that he likes the mortgage business and the servicing side is improving.
“We are going to be in the mortgage business. We want to be a winner in it,” Dimon said.
Speaking at a Morgan Stanley conference, the CEO noted that mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures have come down and
On the loan production side, Chase is ranked second in single-family originations. The giant bank is continuing to expand its branch network, which is currently responsible for half of the company’s originations.
Dimon said charge-offs on home loans have come way down. “It is half of what it was a year ago.” And JPMorgan Chase is reducing its loan loss reserves due to the improvement in the housing market.
“The U.S. housing market has turned the corner in every way, shape, or form," Dimon said. “Supply and demand are in balance if not in short supply in a lot of cities.”
Chase expects to reduce its loan loss reserves for mortgages by $1 billion in the second quarter.
When asked about the back-up in mortgage rates, Dimon noted that he prefers normalization to artificially low rates.
“I think normalization is a good thing. It is just going to be a little bit of a rocky ride as it normalizes. We should all be prepared for that,” he said.
