GMAC: Loan Production May Not Drop Much

GMAC Financial Services says its overall residential loan production may not drop by much despite the fact that it is closing its wholesale and traditional retail branches [see item below]. A company spokeswoman said Residential Capital will aggressively market its Ditech direct-to-consumer brand and maintain a presence as a correspondent buyer of mortgages. Asked about origination volume, she cautioned, "I don't want to make any predictions, but volumes may not drop much." In the first quarter, ResCap funded $20.8 billion in home mortgages, a 44% decline from the level of a year earlier, according to the Quarterly Data Report. In the first quarter, roughly half its production came through the correspondent channel, with retail and wholesale accounting for about 25% each. (Second-quarter results were not available.) In addition, no breakouts were available for Ditech. "We hope to do a lot of volume," she added. "We stand behind these two channels."