Monthly business volume was up in March, and a handful of sellers grew their agency single-family production in an otherwise calamitous start to the new year. (Includes two data charts.)

Both originations and servicing were a lot less profitable in the fourth quarter of 2022.

It stands to reason that the largest originators get hit with the highest volume of repurchase requests from the GSEs...

Buybacks of mortgages delivered to the GSEs declined in the fourth quarter. Still, repurchase activity was elevated for the year and the amount of unresolved repurchases didn’t budge much in the fourth quarter. (Includes three data charts.)

A diverse group of bank and nonbank lenders eked out a modest $375 million in originations and secondary marketing income during the fourth quarter, down 67% from the prior period. The MBA said only one in four lenders turned a profit in the final three months of 2022. (Includes data chart.)

The biggest increase was in residential MBS, which was up 7.1% in the fourth quarter to $287.23 billion...

Bank holding companies continued to grow their trading-account holdings of MBS and CMBS during the fourth quarter, although industry-leader Chase reduced its portfolio. (Includes data chart.)

The correspondent share of conventional conforming edged up to 39.6% in the fourth quarter...

That retrenchment marks the slowest quarterly growth rate since early 2019...

Although margins are better in retail production, third-party origination platforms are good sources for purchase-mortgage business and more easily scaled to market demand. (Includes two data charts.)