The top five lenders had combined first-quarter production that was nearly even with the previous period, mostly because of substantially higher originations at Quicken and United Wholesale.
Two of the top nonbanks had remarkable starts to the year. Second-ranked Quicken Loans posted a 13.6% increase in production from the fourth quarter and third-ranked United Wholesale Mortgage upped its volume by a stunning 63.1%.
Correspondent production remained the biggest source of FHA and VA loans, but the rapid growth at United Wholesale Mortgage is reshaping channel dynamics.
The expanded credit sector (which includes non-QM lending) shows promise but accounted for just 2.8% of total residential MBS issued in the first quarter, according to Inside MBS & ABS.
Ginnie Mae and Freddie Mac both posted strong gains in REMIC issuance during the first quarter. Wells Fargo Securities was the top underwriter of these deals.
A sharp increase in the securitization rate of nonprime and expanded-credit mortgages was partly due to seasoned loans and GSE-eligible mortgages. Agency securitization rates were sluggish.
Most of the decline in bank MSR activity in the first quarter was attributable to Wells Fargo, while Flagstar accounted for a big chunk of the increase among savings institutions.
The surging broker channel is attributable to rapid growth at United Wholesale Mortgage, by far the largest platform in the business. According to IMFresearch, no other table-funder comes close.