The first quarter of 2016 has not been kind to the profits of banks and investment banking firms, as evidenced by the substantial year-over-year declines most of them experienced. After the release of Ocwen Financial Corp.’s Q1 earnings statement on Wednesday, the industry found out that the first quarter was not so great for non-bank servicers, either.
Ocwen reported a year-over-year net loss of 111 point 2 million dollars for Q1, following a net loss of 224 point 3 million dollars for Q4 2015. For Q1 2015, Ocwen reported a net income of 34 point 4 million dollars. Ocwen's revenue in Q1 of 330 point 8 million dollars also experienced a substantial decline year-over-year of 35 point 2 percent, largely impacted by the impact of the sales of agency mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) and portfolio runoff during 2015.
Pending home sales returned with a vengeance in March to the highest reading since May 2015, despite inventory deficiencies and rising home prices. The National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday that its Pending Home Sales Index rose 1 point 5 percent to 110 point 5 in March, from a downwardly revised 109 in February and is now up 1 point 4 percent from 109 in March 2015.