Independent Mortgage Bankers in U.S. Turn Profitable in Q2, Make $954 Per Loan

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According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Quarterly Mortgage Bankers Performance Report, independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks reported a net gain of $954 on each loan they originated in the second quarter of 2014, up from a reported loss of $194 per loan in the first quarter of 2014.

"The gains seen in the second quarter come after first quarter losses that were likely triggered by a variety of  factors including the implementation of new Dodd-Frank regulations and extremely low origination volumes," said Marina Walsh, MBA's Vice President of Industry Analysis.  "Some loan closings may have been pushed into the second quarter, resulting in an increase in profitability as per-loan production costs declined."

Among the other key findings of MBA's Quarterly Mortgage Bankers Performance Report are:

• In basis points, the average production profit was 45.70 basis points in the second quarter compared to an average net production loss of 8.31 basis points (bps) in the first quarter of the year.  Since the inception of the Performance Report in the third quarter of 2008, net production income has averaged 54.33 bps with a median of 52.05 bps.   Average production volume was $378 million per company in the second quarter of 2014, up from $274 million per company in the first quarter of 2014, an increase of 38 percent.  The volume by count per company averaged 1,676 loans in the second quarter of 2014, up from 1,238 in the first quarter of 2014.

• The purchase share of total originations, by dollar volume, increased to 74 percent in the second quarter of 2014, up from 68 percent in the first quarter.  For the mortgage industry as a whole, MBA estimates the purchase share at 59 percent in the second quarter of 2014, up from 51 percent in the first quarter.

• The jumbo share of total first mortgage originations continued to increase, rising to 7 percent in the second quarter, the highest level since the inception of the Performance Report.  MBA's applications data, as well as credit availability data, continues to show strong growth in jumbo production. 

• Secondary marketing income was 270 basis points in the second quarter of 2014, compared to 277 basis points in the first quarter.

• Total loan production expenses - commissions, compensation, occupancy, equipment, and other production expenses and corporate allocations - decreased to $6,932 per loan in the second quarter of 2014, from $8,025 in the first quarter.  This marks the largest decline in costs in any single quarter since the Performance Report was created.

• Personnel expenses averaged $4,423 per loan in the second quarter of 2014, down from $5,048 per loan in the first quarter.  This was primarily driven by a reduction in per loan fulfillment, support and benefit expenses. 

• The "net cost to originate" was $5,074 per loan in the second quarter of 2014, down from $6,253 in the first quarter.  The "net cost to originate" includes all production operating expenses and commissions, minus all fee income, but excluding secondary marketing gains, capitalized servicing, servicing released premiums, and warehouse interest spread.

• Productivity was 2.30 loans originated per production employee per month in the second quarter of 2014, up from 1.70 in the first quarter.

• Including all business lines, 81 percent of the firms in the study posted pre-tax net financial profits in the second quarter of 2014, up from 54 percent in the first quarter of 2014, but down from the 92 percent seen in the second quarter of 2013.