Earlier in the year, production forecasts were downright glum. But thanks to the never-ending rate rally, 2019 could turn out to be a $2 trillion-plus year for originations.

Remember when rates ticked up a few weeks ago? Forget about it. Rates fell again, applications are strong and pipelines are full.

Homeowner equity hit an all-time high in the first half of 2019, thanks to rising real estate values, according to a recent report from CoreLogic.

Growth in subservicing contracts slowed a bit in the second quarter as con-tinued low interest rates took their toll. It’s anticipated that once rates in-crease, more vendors could disappear through M&A.

When originations boom, warehouse banks clean up. In the second quarter commitment authority to nonbanks increased by 13.5% overall but usage rates are nearing 70%.

Will the third quarter be better than the second for originators? Looks that way. Meanwhile, mortgage M&A advisor Houlihan Lokey might wind up as one of Treasury's GSE advisors.

 

Thanks to lower rates, residential loan production is booming but some lenders are experiencing capacity issues because they didn’t staff up quickly enough. Hard to find a good loan processor? You bet.

Overall loan performance weakened in the second quarter, but serious-delinquency rates declined slightly on a sequential basis.

The transfer of bulk mortgage servicing rights was strong in the second quarter but dealmakers didn’t really feel it in the auction market. Investment bankers believe the second half could see strong MSR sale activity.

Top nonbank servicers continued to expand their agency MSR positions in the second quarter via acquisitions and organic growth. Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank and BofA were the only top-10 agency servicers to shrink.