- theMReport.com - https://themreport.com -

Credit Unions Originate Record Number of Mortgages

First-lien home loans helped move credit unions to set new records with loan originations over the first quarter.

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""Callahan & Associates"":http://www.callahan.com/, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm, said Monday that first mortgage originations reached $26 billion by the end of the quarter, accounting for 36 percent of originations. Credit unions reportedly originated 160,746 first-lien loans, with mortgages averaging $161,549.

""Originations during the first three months of 2012 exceeded

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$72.0 billion, up 25.3% over the same time period last year,"" says Jay Johnson, executive vice president for the financial consulting firm Callahan & Associates. ""This year-over-year growth is significantly higher than the 13.3% recorded in 2011.""

Consumer loan originations ticked up 16.6 percent to reach $39 billion quarter-over-quarter but fell year-over-year.

Total balances outstanding for mortgage loans rose 2.7 percent year-over-year, signaling a reversal for credit unions, which saw 0.9 percent in declines last year.

The law firm said that first-quarter originations tipped a new industry record by exceeding $1 trillion. Many members of credit unions continue to bring funds with them, increasing shares year-over-year as both regular shares and share drafts achieve double-digit growth.

The report stayed mum about whether new loan originations rose on a shift from banks to credit unions by members of the public last fall.

In November, activists helped launch Bank Transfer Day to mobilize bank consumers to drop their traditional accounts with larger, for-profit institutions in favor of nonprofit credit unions, a story that swept both social and traditional media.