Retail Fundings by Depositories Slid in First Quarter

Commercial banks originated $122 billion of single-family loans through retail means in the first quarter, a 17% decline from the previous period. It marks the third quarterly decline since the second quarter of 2009 when originations by banks topped $222 billion during the refinancing boom. New call report figures released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. show that 762 commercial banks and savings banks were active residential lenders in the first quarter, down from 869 in the fourth quarter. Banks are required to report origination data to FDIC only if they have assets of $1 billion or greater or they originated more than $10 million in one-to-four family loans in the past two quarters. The FDIC also reported a decline in wholesale lending activity. FDIC banks purchased $200 billion of residential loans during the quarter, down 19% from the previous quarter and nearly unchanged from a year ago. Banks also sold $359 billion of residential first mortgages.