| Fundings Fall at WaMu
$68.8 Q4 production January 22, 2004 By MortgageDaily.com staff |
| Following the path of some competitors, one Seattle-based banking behemoth reached an annual record, despite that volume fell in the last quarter of the year.
Washington Mutual Inc. announced that its fourth quarter mortgage volume, or total loans secured by real estate, totaled $68.8 billion, sinking 47% from the previous quarter and 36% below the fourth quarter in 2002. For all of 2003, total production equaled $427.5 billion, compared to $305.0 billion the previous year, according to the financial report. “While 2003 was a solid year for our company, rising interest rates for mortgages in the second half of the year placed pressure on our business results,” said WaMu president Kerry Killinger, in the announcement. “Our management team is meeting the challenge head on, as reflected in the $180 million of technology write-downs and severance charges taken during the fourth quarter, and we expect our efforts to reduce costs will contribute to our results in 2004.” Residential loans contributed $57.5 billion of the fourth quarter overall volume, sharply declining from the prior quarter’s $117.0 billion. Residential production also reached an all-time high for the year — $384.2 billion — a 37% increase from 2002, reported the banking behemoth. Similar activity occurred at Wells Fargo & Company and Fannie Mae — with both reporting plummeting quarterly mortgage volume, but annual records. The servicing portfolio for the Seattle-based institution was reported at $770.6 billion, with $182.6 billion of its own loans included. WaMu also announced fourth quarter earnings fell 11% from the previous quarter to $842 million, while the annual amount slightly rose to $3.88 billion. |
