Mortgage bankers saw a small decline in profitability during the third quarter of 2017 despite a favorable turn in servicing and a bump up in mortgage production, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s quarterly performance report. The average firm participating in the survey reported $1.743 million in pretax income for the third quarter, down 17.7 percent from the previous three-month period. Average year-to-date pretax income on mortgage banking activities was ...