Home Equity Conversion Mortgage endorsements dropped last year despite a strong fourth quarter. American Advisors Group retained its top position among HECM lenders. (Includes two data charts.)
VA originations set a new record in the fourth quarter despite a slump in purchase lending. Nonetheless, purchase mortgages accounted for a large share of total VA business in 2019.
Borrower demand for FHA-insured loans was strong in the third quarter due to low interest rates. Not surprisingly, refinance activity, streamline refinancing in particular, provided the boost.
USDA lenders ramped up production in the third quarter of 2019 with a strong boost from purchase originations. More than 50% of total USDA originations were from correspondents. USDA servicing volume was up slightly from a year ago.
Reverse mortgage lenders saw modest growth in the second quarter with a mere 3.0% increase in HECM originations. The trend in the sector remains weak, with production at the mid-year mark down 33.7% from a year ago.
The volume of broker-originated FHA and VA refinance loans pooled in new Ginnie MBS jumped 94.1% from the first to the second quarter. Correspondent production saw the smallest gains among the three channels.
Purchase loans still accounted for over two-thirds of Ginnie loan deliveries, but the volume of incoming refinance loans had a slightly higher increase from June.
The purchase-mortgage and refinance sectors saw nearly identical gains in Ginnie volume last month, with most of the refi increase in rate-term transactions.
Average FHA and VA credit scores declined for both purchase and refi loans pooled into Ginnie Mae MBS in the first quarter. Wholesale-broker production gained a larger share of the market.
Ginnie Mae MBS production rose in April thanks to strong increases in both purchase and refinance business. Rate-term transactions accounted for much of the surge in refi activity, but cash-out deals remain the most prevalent.
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