The nation’s subservicing vendors ended the fourth quarter with $2.47 trillion worth of contracts on their books, a 9.8% sequential gain and a handsome 23.5% annual increase, according to figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance. [Includes one data chart.]

The mortgage servicing market continued to grow in the fourth quarter of 2018, with most of the gains coming in the agency market, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis. [Includes two data charts.]

Home-equity lending weakened in late 2018 but remained a relatively bright spot in the mortgage business, according to an exclusive Inside Mortgage Finance market analysis. [Includes three data charts.]

Higher conforming loan limits for agency mortgage-backed securities programs didn’t do much to offset a sharp decline in total jumbo lending last year, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. [Includes three data charts.]

Mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates shrunk in the fourth quarter of 2018, helped by tight underwriting standards along with a strong economy and home price trends. [Includes one data chart.]

Warehouse lenders ended the year with $64.0 billion of commitments on their books, a modest 1.4% sequential decline and flat compared to the same period a year ago, according to survey figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance. [Includes one data chart.]

The one bright spot in the residential mortgage market last year was purchase-mortgage lending, which provided at least a faint glow in an otherwise dreary year for lenders. [Includes four data charts.]

Mortgage brokers aren’t taking over the world, but the industry’s share of new production reached a nine-year high in 2018, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance. [Includes six data charts.]

The great mortgage M&A boom of 2019, so far, is turning out to be a bust. [Includes one data chart.]

It didn’t really matter much what part of the mortgage market lenders focused on in late 2018, production fell by roughly equal degrees in the major product groups, according to an exclusive new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis. [Includes two data charts.]