Report: Originations Up in Q3, Market Opens Up Among Top Lenders

Mortgage origination was up in the third quarter, and it looks like there's a little more room at the top, according to a report from ""_Mortgage Daily_"":http://www.mortgagedaily.com/Production111212.asp.

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According to mortgage lender ranking data compiled by _Mortgage Daily_, originations in Q3 were up 11 percent from Q2, putting third-quarter production at an estimated $475 billion.

The report shows that loans insured by the ""Federal Housing Administration"":http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/federal_housing_administration (FHA) made up about 13 percent of originations in Q3, down from the revised 14 percent in Q2.

Activity from ""Fannie Mae"":http://www.fanniemae.com/ and ""Freddie Mac"":http://www.freddiemac.com/ was mostly flat between quarters, with the GSEs accounting for about 74 percent of third-quarter activity. That was slightly up from a revised 73 percent in the second quarter.

Statistics for the report were obtained through an origination survey conducted by _Mortgage Daily_, filings with the ""Securities and Exchange Commission"":http://www.sec.gov/, and company news announcements. The findings were based on origination data for 29 lenders that accounted for 77 percent of the total estimated market.

According to the findings, the market share at the five biggest originators was about 52.5 percent, down from 53.9 percent in the second quarter. The top five lenders-- ""Wells Fargo"":https://www.wellsfargo.com/, ""JPMorgan Chase"":http://www.jpmorganchase.com/corporate/Home/home.htm, ""USBank"":https://www.usbank.com/index.html, ""Bank of America"":http://about.bankofamerica.com/en-us/index.html#fbid=RwYHGv9E231, and ""Quicken Loans"":http://www.quickenloans.com/ --maintained their spots, but only BofA and Quicken managed to keep their market shares from declining.

PennyMac saw the most growth in mortgage production, posting an 87 percent increase from the second quarter, the report says. Stonegate Mortgage and United Shore Financial Services also reported major improvement, experiencing increases of 76 percent and 62 percent, respectively. Quicken's volume increased nearly 45 percent quarter-to-quarter, helping it hold its fifth-ranked spot.

Fifth Third Bank's performance was the worst of any lender tracked; the bank's originations declined 2 percent quarterly.

In terms of servicing, Wells Fargo, BofA, Chase, Citi, and USBank made up the top five in terms of portfolio size. However, recent servicing rights acquisitions made by ""Ocwen"":http://www.ocwen.com/, ""Nationstar"":https://www.nationstarmtg.com/, and ""Walter Investment Management"":http://www.walterinvestment.com/ are very likely to change the landscape of the top servicers.

Ocwen is poised to move into the top five with its purchase of Homeward Residential Holdings and mortgage assets from Residential Capital LLC, while Nationstar and Walter have indicated in earnings reports that they each have half a trillion dollars in servicing portfolios in upcoming acquisitions.

Using historical data from its _U.S. Mortgage Market Index_, _Mortgage Daily_ predicts the final quarter of the year will be little changed from Q3. The index--which reflects pricing inquiries for prospective borrowers--averaged 221 for the three months ending October 26, a date selected to sync with quarterly production by allowing about 60 days of processing time.