At the end of March mortgage companies were servicing just shy of $9.5 trillion in home loans, a 4% decline from a year ago, and a sign that foreclosures and ‘cash-in’ refinancings are continuing to play a key role in reducing residential debt.
According to figures compiled by National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report, mortgage debt outstanding in the U.S. (servicing rights) peaked at $10.1 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2009. Since then it’s been a steady slide as consumers default on their loans, removing those mortgages from the dockets of the nation’s servicing companies – especially larger players such as Bank of America, Wells Fargo & Co., and Chase.
NMN/QDR found that B of A and Wells continue to dominate the servicing landscape, controlling just over 40% of the housing receivables market.
At the end of March, B of A serviced $2.01 trillion in home mortgages, giving it a market share of 21.23%. Wells ranked a somewhat close second with $1.8 trillion in MSRs and a 19.09% share.
Chase was a distant third with $1.23 trillion, and a 13.02% share.
According to NMN, four of the nation’s top five servicers – Wells being the exception – saw their portfolios decline in the first quarter compared to 1Q 2010. However, Wells managed a meager 1% growth rate in MSRs.
