Like other mortgage lenders that have so far reported quarterly earnings, originations were lower at SunTrust Banks Inc. Also retreating was the size of the bank’s servicing portfolio.
Residential loan production amounted to $7.995 billion in the third quarter, according to quarterly earnings data.
Business dropped from $9.090 billion in the prior three-month period and also fell short of the $8.132 billion originated in the third-quarter 2012.
During all three quarters so far in 2013, production totaled $25.926 billion.
Retail originations accounted for 56 percent of the latest activity, while wholesale share was 9 percent and the correspondent channel was responsible for 35 percent.
Refinance share was 54 percent, less than the two-thirds share in the previous period.
Loan applications plunged to $7.116 billion from the second quarter’s $12.899 billion.
The total mortgage servicing portfolio was reduced to $139.710 billion from $140.437 billion at the end of the second quarter and $149.721 billion at the same point last year.
Loans serviced for others made up $109.224 billion of last month’s servicing portfolio.
Guaranteed residential loans on the books slipped to $3.527 billion from $3.622 billion and have been cut from $4.823 billion at the end of the third quarter of last year.
SunTrust increased its holdings of non-guaranteed residential loans to $24.106 billion from $23.341 billion three months earlier and $23.925 billion 12 months earlier.
Delinquency of between 30 and 89 days on the non-guaranteed home loan portfolio was reduced to 0.65 percent from 0.70 percent as of June 30 and 1.05 percent on Sept. 30, 2012.
Home-equity loans on the balance sheet inched up to $14.826 billion from the previous quarter’s $14.682 billion but fell from $15.019 billion in the third-quarter 2012. HEL delinquency worsened to 0.82 percent from 0.78 percent but was lower than 0.95 percent at the end of the third quarter last year.
At $0.582 billion, residential construction assets were down from $0.635 billion as of June 30 and $0.805 billion as of the same date last year. This portion of the loan portfolio had a delinquency rate of 0.72 percent, lower than 1.07 percent in the prior quarter and 1.54 percent four quarters prior.
Commercial real estate loans owned by the bank grew to $4.755 billion from $4.308 billion in the second quarter and $4.491 billion as of the same date in 2012. Delinquency on this portion of the investment portfolio fell to 0.10 percent from 0.34 percent in the prior period and 0.44 percent in the year-earlier period.
SunTrust also expanded its commercial construction loan holdings to $0.737 billion from $0.667 billion, though construction assets were down from $0.808 billion as of Sept. 30, 2012. Delinquency was unchanged at 0.01 percent but lower than 0.04% one year prior.
A $10 million mortgage production loss was reported for the third quarter, swinging from a second-quarter profit of $133 million. The business had a $64 million loss in the same period last year.
Mortgage servicing income jumped to $11 million from $1 million but fell well short of the $64 million earned in the third-quarter 2012.
Prior to income taxes, third-quarter income at the corporate level tumbled to $0.050 billion from $0.526 billion three months earlier and $1.637 billion a year earlier.
Non-interest income was reduced by $63 million as a result of mortgage repurchase settlements with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, while non-interest expense was increased by $323 million because of mortgage settlements.
There were 26,409 full-time equivalent employees at SunTrust as of Sept. 30, more than the 26,199 people on staff at the end of the second quarter. Headcount was down from 28,000 a year earlier.
The Atlanta-based company cut the number of full-service banking offices to 1,508 from 1,539 as of June 30.
