Small and mid-sized mortgage servicers have recently grown their servicing portfolios. But staffing expanded on a quarter-over-quarter basis, reducing efficiency and cutting into per-loan profits.
As of Sept. 30, independent mortgage bankers serviced an average of 68,352 home loans for $10.770 billion.
Mortgage servicing portfolios grew from 65,257 residential loans serviced for $10.316 billion as of the end of the second quarter.
At the same point last year, the average portfolio was 35,507 mortgages for $5.494 billion.
The statistics were outlined in the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Quarterly Mortgage Bankers Performance Report Q3 2013.
The total reflects results from a survey of 207 companies, though the second- and third-quarter numbers are only based on firms that reported in both quarters.
An average of 1,162 loans were serviced per servicing employee, not as good as the 1,214 average in the previous report. But efficiency was better than the same three-month period during 2012, when an average of 1,111 loans were serviced per employee.
The average independent servicer had 123 full-time employees, more than the 104 in the last report and the 76 in the year-earlier report.
Servicers earned an average of $223 per loan in the latest period, not as good as the second quarter’s $284. But total Net servicing financial income swung from a $24-per-loan loss in the third-quarter 2012.
Earnings worked out to 12.12 basis points, down from the prior period’s 15.69 BPS but swinging from a loss of 1.21 BPS in the third-quarter 2012.
Total net financial income came in at 17.30 BPS for independent mortgage firms that serviced between 2,500 and 10,000 loans, while it sank to 9.36 BPS for servicers with portfolios of more than 50,000 mortgages.
