MBA: Independent Mortgage Banks’ Profits Double in 2nd Quarter

Independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks reported a net gain of $1,686 on each loan they originated in the second quarter, up from $825 per loan in the first quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported yesterday.

The MBA Quarterly Mortgage Bankers Performance Report said average production volume rose to $654 million per company in the second quarter, up from $517 million per company in the first quarter. Volume by count per company averaged 2,721 loans in the second quarter, up from 2,196 loans in the first quarter.

“Production profits more than doubled in the second quarter, as production volume rose and expenses dropped to a level not seen since third quarter 2015,” said MBA Vice President of Industry Analysis Marina Walsh.

Walsh noted mortgage lenders also benefited from higher loan balances that reached a series-high of $245,394 and drove production revenue to a series-high of $8,807 per loan.

Including all business lines, 90 percent of mortgage lenders in the study reported pre-tax net financial profits in the second quarter, compared to 73 percent in the first quarter.

“With elevated prepayment activity, we continued to see hits to servicing profitability resulting from mortgage servicing right markdowns and amortization,” Walsh said. “Nonetheless, the profitability on the production side of the business generally outweighed servicing losses.”

Other key report findings:
–Average pre-tax production profit rose to 73 basis points in the second quarter, compared to 33 basis points in the first quarter. Production profits for the second quarter also rose from production profits of 67 basis points a year ago. Since inception of the Performance Report in 2008, net production income has averaged 53 basis points.
–Purchase share of total originations, by dollar volume, grew to 66 percent in the second quarter, up from 61 percent in the first quarter. For the mortgage industry as a whole, MBA estimated the purchase share at 54 percent in the second quarter.
–Jumbo share of total first mortgage originations by dollar volume fell to 8.49 percent in the second quarter, compared to 9.35 percent in the first quarter.
–Average loan balance for first mortgages reached a study-high $245,394 in the second quarter, from $237,419 in the first quarter.
–Total production revenue (fee income, secondary marking income and warehouse spread) decreased to 372 basis points in the second quarter, from 377 basis points in the first quarter. However, with rising loan balances, per-loan production revenues increased to a study-high $8,807 per loan in the second quarter, up from $8,670 per loan in the first quarter.
–Total loan production expenses–commissions, compensation, occupancy, equipment and other production expenses and corporate allocations–decreased to $7,120 per loan in the second quarter, from $7,845 in the first quarter.
–Personnel expenses averaged $4,771 per loan in the second quarter, down from $5,141 per loan in the first quarter.
–Productivity increased to 2.5 loans originated per production employee per month in the second quarter, from 2.0 in the first quarter. Production employees includes sales, fulfillment and production support functions.
–Servicing net financial income for the second quarter represented a loss of $160 per loan, compared to a loss of $118 per loan in the first quarter. Servicing operating income, which excludes MSR amortization, gains/loss in the valuation of servicing rights net of hedging gains/losses and gains/losses on the bulk sale of MSRs, fell to $192 per loan in the second quarter, compared to $205 per loan in the first quarter.
–Including all business lines, 90 percent of firms in the study posted pre-tax net financial profits in the second quarter, from 73 percent in the first quarter. This marks a substantial improvement over the previous quarter, but a slight decline from a year ago, when 92 percent of firms in the study posted pre-tax net financial profits.

The MBA Mortgage Bankers Performance Report series offers a variety of performance measures on the mortgage banking industry and is intended as a financial and operational benchmark for independent mortgage companies, bank subsidiaries and other non-depository institutions. Seventy-six percent of the 345 companies that reported production data for the second quarter were independent mortgage companies; the remaining 24 percent were subsidiaries and other non-depository institutions.

In addition to the second quarter report, the Annual Performance Report on 2015 data is also available. MBA produces five performance report publications per year: four quarterly reports and one annual report. To purchase or subscribe to the publications, call (202) 557-2879. The reports can also be purchased on the MBA website by visiting www.mba.org/PerformanceReport.