But the first quarter was just a prelude to the crescendo of refinance activity in April and May. A whopping $323.4 billion of refi loans were securitized by the GSEs and Ginnie during the past two months...
Mortgage lenders delivered a whopping $323 billion of refinance loans into agency MBS during April and May, almost matching full-year volume back in 2018. (Includes four data charts.)
Deliveries of refinance loans into Ginnie MBS continued to climb in April, but a surge in purchase loans accounted for much of last month’s record production volume. (Includes two data charts.)
The top two bank ABS investors — TD Bank and Charles Schwab — pared back their holdings in 1Q, but sizable increases at Bank of America and oth-ers boosted the industry’s total position in the market. (Includes two data charts.)
Pandemic-related market volatility in March dampened non-agency jumbo lending more than other sectors in the mortgage business. Conforming-jumbo production also fell sharply in the first quarter but began regaining momentum in April. (Includes three data charts.)
The pipeline of unresolved buyback claims also grew during the first three months of the year, although repurchase activity in general remains at subatomic levels.
PennyMac executives cited elevated margins across all channels. Also, production volume rose in the more profitable consumer-direct and wholesale-broker platforms...