Most of the banking industry's decline in servicing for others was attributable to a $26 billion drop at Wells Fargo.

The industry increased profits on the production side of the aisle by pushing a higher volume of business through their platforms, reducing per-loan costs for personnel, occupancy and technology. (Includes data chart.)

Mortgage repurchases and indemnifications by banks and thrifts declined 22.6% from the second to the third quarter, and repurchase reserves fell to their lowest level ever. (Includes data chart.)

The boost in securitization came despite headwinds from market dynamics…

Significant increases in securitization rates were recorded in the conventional-conforming, government-insured and nonprime markets. Relatively few jumbo loans are pooled in non-agency MBS. (Includes data chart.)

Analysts say homeowners are sitting on $6.2 trillion of home equity that could be converted to cash. But for many, refinancing is a better choice than a HELOC. (Includes three data charts.)

Credit unions, however, continued to grow their holdings of home-equity loans, up 1.9% to $92.5 billion as of the end of the third quarter. New HEL originations edged up 0.7% from the previous period to $9.7 billion.

Both the FHA and VA sectors saw declining securitization volume, but the VA took the bigger hit, a 12.1% drop from October.