Banks lost market share over the past year, while credit unions’ share of originations inched up and non-bank lenders made the biggest gain. The latest estimate of total industry staffing is just over 700,000.
Residential loan originations were an estimated $253 billion during the first quarter of this year based on data collected by Mortgage Daily on bank production, credit union volume and non-bank originations.
Mortgage originations slid from an estimated $342 billion in the fourth quarter of last year and plunged from approximately $705 billion in the first-quarter 2013.
The most recent total was in line with the $254 billion average forecast from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Mortgage Daily’s first-quarter 2014 total reflected $135 billion in home loans originated by banks, according to data provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Bank business dropped from $188 billion three months earlier and sank from $459 billion a year earlier.
That put bank market share at 53 percent in the latest period, slipping from 55 percent in the prior quarter and diminishing from 65 percent in the same period last year.
The first-quarter 2014 bank market share was revised down from two-thirds previously estimated by Mortgage Daily.
Credit unions were responsible for approximately $18 billion of volume generated during the first three months of this year, according to data provided by Callahan & Associates.
Credit union activity declined from $24 billion in the fourth-quarter 2013 and dropped from $31 billion in first-quarter 2013 originations.
Credit union market share of 7 percent was unchanged from the prior quarter but has risen from 4 percent in the year-earlier period.
The final piece of first-quarter 2014 originations was production generated by non-bank lenders of approximately $100 billion. The non-bank total was based on statistics provided by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors for state-licensed mortgage firms registered in the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System.
Non-bank volume fell from around $130 billion in the final three months of 2013 and was much worse than $215 billion in the first three months of last year.
Non-bank lenders’ share of originations climbed to 40 percent from 38 percent in the fourth-quarter 2013 and jumped from 30 percent in the year-earlier period.
Using Mortgage Daily market share estimates along with Bureau of Labor Statistics data on non-bank mortgage employment, total mortgage employment finished March at an estimated 705,200. The total was revised down from approximately 809,300 as of March 31 previously estimated by Mortgage Daily.
Total mortgage employment contracted from 767,000 approximated as of the end of last year and dove from around 987,600 estimated as of March 31, 2013.
The March 31, 2014, total included an estimated 377,100 mortgage employees working at banks, 48,900 real estate finance jobs at credit unions and 279,300 people employed by mortgage firms.
