The average firm posted a pretax net loss of $214,000 loss in the first quarter. Retail-focused lenders and independent mortgage bankers fared relatively better.
Broker originations accounted for a growing share of first-quarter production in all three major mortgage products. United Wholesale accounted for the channel's growth.
Commercial banks held a combined $1.673 trillion of MBS at the end of the first quarter, maintaining their position as the largest investor class in the market...
The Federal Reserve reduced its holdings of agency MBS by $47 billion during the first quarter, but several other investor groups picked up the slack. Total MBS outstanding grew 0.4% during the first three months of the year.
It was the weakest reading on home-equity originations since early 2015, when production of closed-end seconds and new borrowing on home-equity lines of credit totaled an estimated $38.0 billion.
Home-equity lending fell 15% in the first quarter of 2019 as the total supply of HEL debt outstanding continued to shrink. Heavy cash-out refinancing was a factor.
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.