Mortgage bankers originated $291 billion of residential loans in the second quarter — the industry's worst performance since the height of the housing crisis almost three years ago, according to exclusive survey figures compiled by National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report.
The reason for the decline was simple: refinancings swooned, home purchases were anemic, and consumers continued to worry about falling home values, the economy, and their employment prospects.
The nation's "Big Two" of residential finance — Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America — suffered origination declines of 22% and 44%, respectively.
Among the nation's top 10 lenders, six firms showed production declines compared to 2Q 2010 with one firm (CitiMortgage) staying about even.
The only top 10 lender that showed a decent gain during the period was SunTrust Mortgage, Richmond, Va., which originated $4.7 billion in product, an 18% gain. (For the final ranking and expanded analysis see the Monday edition of NMN.)
