Thrift Originations Top '93 Record

Thrift originations of one- to four-family loans hit a record $67.7 billion in the second quarter, according to the Office of Thrift Supervision, as thrifts took advantage of the summer refinancing activity and strong sales of new and existing homes."Thrift institutions fully participated in this vibrant housing market," OTS Director Ellen Seidman said Wednesday morning. The previous record of $57 billion in originations was set in the fourth quarter of the 1993 refinancing boom. In 1993, thrifts originated a total of $189 billion in single-family loans for the entire year. In the first half of this year, 1,181 thrifts have originated $127 billion in product. The OTS also noted that thrifts have essentially turned into mortgage banks because of the high demand for fixed-rate loans. And thrifts sold $66.3 billion of their production into the secondary market during the second quarter. Thrift servicing portfolios increased in the second quarter by $19.7 billion to $517 billion as a result of this mortgage banking activity.