At its current pace, the banking industry will soon have less than $3 trillion of servicing-for-others on its books. But MSR values saw one of their biggest quarterly gains in early 2021.
Although seller buybacks from Fannie/Freddie MBS trusts rose sharply in the first quarter, they still account for a miniscule share of total GSE business.
Commercial banks boosted their ABS holdings during the first quarter, with much of the gain coming in paper backed by auto loans. TD Bank added $2.2 billion of auto deals to remain the top bank ABS investor. (Includes two data charts.)
Correspondent volume was unchanged from the fourth quarter, although a handful of companies grew their shares of the channel and others pulled back. (Includes six data charts.)
Both FHA and VA saw sharp declines in purchase-money endorsements in the first quarter, and the FHA actually posted a bigger gain in refinance business. (Includes three data charts.)