Mortgage Originations Rose at Wells in '06

The mortgage originations of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Des Moines, Iowa, totaled $398 billion in 2006, up 9% from the level recorded in 2005, according to Wells Fargo & Co., San Francisco.In addition, the owned mortgage servicing portfolio stood at a record $1.37 trillion as of Dec. 31, 2006, up 38% from that of a year earlier, Wells Fargo reported. (Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is part of Wells Fargo's community banking segment.) "The past year has been a very challenging year for the mortgage industry with the flat to inverted yield curve and a slowdown in the housing sector," said Mark Oman, senior executive vice president in the Wells Home and Consumer Finance Group. "Despite this environment, we continued our long track record of growing our mortgage servicing businesses at double-digit rates, which provides opportunities to cross-sell and retain these customers." Wells Fargo & Co. reported record net income of $8.48 billion ($2.49 per share) for 2006, up 11% from that of a year earlier. The company can be found online at http://www.wellsfargo.com.