IMBs Report Increased Profitability in First Quarter

Independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks reported a net gain of $285 on each loan they originated in the first quarter, up from a reported loss of $200 per loan in the fourth quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported.

The MBA Quarterly Mortgage Bankers Performance Report said average pre-tax production profit rose to seven basis points in the first quarter, up from an average net production loss of 11 bps in the fourth quarter and 15 bps from a year ago.

“Independent mortgage bankers experienced improvements in the first three months of the year,” said MBA Vice President of Industry Analysis Marina Walsh. “This was a welcoming sign following a very difficult end of 2018, in which profitability reached its lowest level since our survey’s inception in 2008. Mortgage application volume picked up strongly towards the end of the first quarter as rates dropped, increasing the pipeline of loans for the second quarter. Given the drop in rates, lenders also enjoyed a boost in secondary marketing gains.”

Walsh noted while the report still saw a decline in overall production volume in the first quarter, revenues per loan rose to a study high, mitigating the increase in per-loan production expenses, also a study high.

Other key Performance Report findings:

–Total production revenue (fee income, net secondary marking income and warehouse spread) increased to 393 bps in the first quarter, up from 351 bps in the fourth quarter. On a per-loan basis, production revenues increased to a study high $9,584 per loan in the first quarter, up from $8,411 per loan in the fourth quarter.

–Net secondary marketing income increased to 308 bps in the first quarter, up from 269 bps in the fourth quarter. On a per-loan basis, net secondary marketing income increased to $7,591 per loan in the first quarter from $6,466 per loan in the fourth quarter.

–Average production volume was $385 million per company in the first quarter, down from $440 million per company in the fourth quarter. Volume by count per company averaged 1,571 loans in the first quarter, down from 1,799 loans in the fourth quarter. For the mortgage industry as a whole, MBA estimated production volume in the first quarter was lower than last year’s fourth quarter.

–Purchase share of total originations, by dollar volume, decreased to 76 percent in the first quarter from 79 percent in the fourth quarter. For the mortgage industry as a whole, MBA estimated purchase share at 70 percent last quarter.

–Average loan balance for first mortgages reached a study high of $257,374 in the first quarter, up from $253,689 in the fourth quarter.

–Average pull-through rate (loan closings to applications) fell to 69 percent in the first quarter, down from 75 percent in the fourth quarter.

–Total loan production expenses–commissions, compensation, occupancy, equipment and other production expenses and corporate allocations–increased to a study high of $9,299 per loan in the first quarter, up from $8,611 per loan in the fourth quarter. For the period of the third quarter of 2008 to last quarter, loan production expenses have averaged $6,435 per loan.

–Personnel expenses averaged $5,931 per loan in the first quarter, up from $5,636 per loan in the fourth quarter.

–Productivity remained unchanged at 1.8 loans originated per production employee per month in the first quarter. Production employees includes sales, fulfillment and production support functions.

–Including all business lines (both production and servicing), 59 percent of the firms in the study posted pre-tax net financial profits in the first quarter, up from 44 percent in the fourth quarter.

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. Eighty percent of the 326 companies that reported production data for the first quarter were independent mortgage companies; the remaining 20 percent were subsidiaries and other non-depository institutions.

MBA produces five Mortgage Bankers Performance Report publications per year: four quarterly reports and one annual report. The reports can also be purchased on MBA’s website by visiting www.mba.org/PerformanceReport.