However, according to figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance, the U.S. subsidiary of the Canadian-owned bank doesn’t even rank among the top 30 lenders, at least not yet.

The reduced head count at Wells Fargo is hardly surprising given declining refinancings, but there could be more bloodletting in the months ahead.

For the nation’s three largest originators of home mortgages – Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America – the third quarter of 2013 turned out the way most observers expected, with slumping production, less revenue and tighter profit margins. The three major lenders, which accounted for almost 30 percent of loan originations in the first half of the year, saw big drops in refinance volume. Although they all unveiled plans to cut thousands of mortgage jobs, efforts to trim expenses did not come fast enough. Wells Fargo said...

Barry Habib, chief market strategist for RFC, confirmed that the privately held nonbank has closed branches but offered up few details.

Bank of America's mortgage business appears to be profitable but only if you exclude its legacy business.

MGIC wrote $8.6 billion in new business in 3Q, up from $8.0 billion and $6.5 billion in the second and first quarters, respectively.

“The exodus of a majority of the pre-crisis nonbank entities within the mortgage arena provides an opportunity for banks to re-establish their position within the mortgage market,” according to regulators in Connecticut.

On the servicing side of the balance sheet, Citigroup reported $180.3 billion in third-party servicing rights, a 2 percent decline from the same period last year.

Even due diligence firms such as Allonhill LLC of Denver have trimmed staff because their bank clients no longer need to conduct as many forensic reviews on legacy loan files. Allonhill was recently sold to Stewart Title, which hopes to grow the firm’s presence in the jumbo and nonconforming sectors.

SunTrust Banks late this week said it has entered into a $968 million mortgage settlement with the GSEs and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to resolve buyback claims and losses suffered by the FHA. Overall, Fannie Mae will receive $323 million in cash, Freddie Mac $65 million. The payment to Fannie releases the nation’s ninth largest home funder – according to figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance – from “certain existing and future repurchase obligations.”