Despite slowing origination volume and continuing pricing pressure, the profits on mortgage production activity rebounded strongly in early 2006, according to a new analysis by Inside Mortgage Profitability. A group of nine leading mortgage lenders reported combined loan production earnings of $1.37 billion in the first three months of this year, a gain of 21 percent from the previous quarter. The improvement came despite the fact that origination volume for the nine companies slumped 17.8… [One data table included]