Originations

Purchase loan volume also increased, as borrowers tried to take advantage of rate dips across all loan types

It’s getting easier to close bigger loans for higher-priced properties, but credit is expanding slower for first-time buyers.

While the first quarter is typically the weakest period for the title business, the sector benefited from strong refinance volumes that were driven by low interest rates.

The real estate investment trust has been buying residential business-purpose loans from the company since 2017.

The company, like many publicly-traded nonbanks, is looking for ways to address the downward pressure that a battle between two large competitors is putting on the wholesale channel’s profitability.

Also, per-loan compensation keeps dropping due to the persistence of refinancing in the mix but it could rise as the purchase share of the market increases.

The recent increase in loan size across all application types reflects rising prices, which contributed to a drop in applications, Mortgage Bankers Association economist Joel Kan said.

Loans bought on the secondary market have become increasingly important as borrower demand has ebbed and companies have sought to obtain mortgages through additional outlets to maintain production levels.

The unusually strong production numbers seen in the first quarter of this year show loanDepot is emerging as a contender in the battle for loan volume and market share amid an industry price war.

This is the first deal that serial acquirer FOA has announced since it went public on April 5.