New originations of home-equity loans were up 8.0 percent in 2016 from the previous year, but the market peaked early and ended with consecutive quarterly declines in production, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. Lenders originated an estimated $197.6 billion of home-equity lines of credit and closed-end second mortgages last year. It was the strongest output since 2008, but it was not enough to offset the years-long erosion of second-mortgage debt. At the end of 2016, the supply of outstanding home-equity loans fell...[Includes three data tables]
MBA noted that including all business lines, 73 percent of the mortgage companies posted pre-tax profits for the fourth quarter, down from 94 percent in 3Q16…