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Even as Countrywide Financial Corp. saw production decline for the second month in a row, the company still reached a servicing milestone.
The lender announced October mortgage fundings of $29 billion, a 6% downturn from the previous month and almost unchanged from a year ago.
"Industry mortgage origination activity continues to decline, reflecting a seasonal slow-down in purchase activity, although a recent pick-up in refinance activity could partly offset this effect," said Stanford Kurland, the company's chief operating officer, in the announcement.
Purchase activity of $15 billion fell 12% from September and refinance loans nudged up over the $14 billion mark.
Adjustable-rate fundings plunged from the previous month to $16 billion, home equity originations of $3 billion swerved from an eight-consecutive-month climb, and subprime volume fell closer to $3 billion, the Calabasas, Calif.-headquartered company said.
Countrywide's correspondent channel reportedly contributed nearly $10 billion to October fundings, consumer market originations also accounted for about $10 billion and wholesale volume added $6 billion. Capital Markets and Treasury Bank fundings made up the remaining total.
A higher level of refinance activity pushed up the pipeline of loans-in-process to $52 billion as of the end of October, which "suggests continued strength in funding levels for the near-term," Kurland added.
On the servicing side, the portfolio reached a new record of $806 billion, escalating above the prior month's $786 billion that made Countrywide the nation's No. 1 servicer at the third quarter's end, the announcement said. The portfolio delinquency was reported at 3.92%, up 19 basis points from September. Meanwhile, the percentage of foreclosures pending edged up to 0.37%.
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