A slowdown in mortgage production volume that could last 18 months or longer is likely to spur more consolidation in the industry, according to analysts at Sandler O’Neill and Partners. Mortgage banking is a business “fraught with cyclicality and seasonality, and increasingly incomprehensible accounting requirements,” notes Mike McMahon, a mortgage analyst at the firm, in a recent update. “The problem with mortgages is that they are low-yielding assets that are difficult to fund properly