Q3 originations down 16%

Oct. 15, 2013

By Mortgage Daily staff

Residential loan production was lower at Citigroup Inc., and indications are that business will fall even further in the current quarter. Mortgage and servicing assets grew within continuing operations, while legacy operations continued to cut holdings.

Mortgage originations from July 1 through Sept. 30 totaled $14.5 billion, the New York-based firm said in its third-quarter earnings report.

Business dropped from $17.2 billion in the second quarter but was unchanged from the same three-month period last year.

Year-to-date Sept. 30 home-loan production totaled $49.7 billion.

Fourth-quarter mortgage production is set to plunge based on saleable mortgage rate locks, which were $7.1 billion -- sinking from the second quarter's $13.0 billion.

Citi boosted the size of its third-party mortgage servicing portfolio to $180.3 billion from $177.9 billion at the end of June. But loans serviced for investors were down from $184.9 billion as of Sept. 30, 2012.

At Citi Holdings, however, the third-party servicing portfolio declined to $106.4 billion from $116.7 billion three months earlier and $155.1 billion a year earlier.

North American real estate lending assets at Citicorp closed out last month $33.6 billion, growing from $32.2 billion at the end of June and $33.0 billion at the same point in 2012.

Citi Holdings reduced its North American residential first mortgages to $46.5 billion from $48.6 billion as of the second quarter. Home-equtiy loans were cut to $29.8 billion from $31.2 billion.

Including first mortgages and HELs but excluding government-insured and -guaranteed loans, Citi Holding's 30-day delinquency rate fell to 7.23 percent from 7.57 percent as of June 30. As of Sept. 30, 2012, that rate was 9.54 percent.

Whole loan repurchase claims total $1.9 billion so far in 2013. The repurchase reserve balance was slashed to $345 million from $719 million at the end of the second quarter.

Prior to income taxes, Citi earned $4.266 billion, not as much as the $6.315 billion earned in the second quarter. But income swung from a $1.009 billion loss in the third quarter of last year.

The financial services conglomerate continued cutting its staff, which fell to 252,000 from 253,000 at the end of June.

Global consumer banking branch count fell to 3,777 from a revised 3,816 in the second quarter.

Citi Holdings operated an additional 1,556 branches, fewer than 1,576 operated in the second quarter.