Come next year rising rates could lead to significant production declines at several lenders with smaller nonbank firms heading for the exits, predicted Total Mortgage Services president John Walsh.
"I think there's a lot of companies hanging by a thread," Walsh said in a recent interview with National Mortgage News. "These firms will be getting out of the business."
The Milford, Conn.-based nonbank funded $700 million in 2009 and although Walsh would not provide a production estimate for the year that's about to end, his company has been in an expansion mode for several months, having recently launched a wholesale division. (TMS is a banker/broker that relies mostly on retail means.)
Commenting on the recent rate rise, he said December was a good "closing" month for the company but applications did soften. (For a full analysis on the state of the production market see the Monday, Dec. 27 edition of NMN.)
