The estimated $119 billion in purchase-mortgage originations during the first quarter was up 15 percent over the level at the same point in 2012.

Banks and thrifts reported $7.7 billion in mortgage banking income during the first three months of 2013, a 16 percent jump from the previous quarter.

Bank investment in residential MBS fell 1.1 percent during the first quarter of 2013 to $1.562 trillion.

Mortgage bankers originated $54 billion of jumbo loans in the first quarter, a slight decline from the prior period but the second best showing in two years.

Fannie and Freddie were ordered by their regulator to sell illiquid securities. But those bonds may fetch a nice price in the secondary market.

Many smaller mortgage lenders are looking for alternatives to selling loans to large national aggregators like Wells Fargo.

Real estate investment trusts are beginning to scale back their investments in MBS. Meanwhile, some are hunting for MSRs.

Although loan broker employment continues to rise, the market share for table funding declined in the first quarter, according to exclusive survey figures from Inside Mortgage Finance.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are continuing to shrink their retained portfolios as mandated by their regulator.

Income tied to residential servicing was down 27.7 percent for the 10 lenders as a group.