(After the publication of this story, Guild Mortgage provided updated numbers that primarily increased the size of the mortgage servicing portfolio. The story has been revised to reflect the revisions.)
Annual home lending held up at Guild Mortgage Co., which reported an all-time high for purchase-money volume. Staffing and the servicing portfolio expanded.
At the conclusion of 2017, the San Diego-based mortgage banking firm serviced 190,672 single-family loans with a collective unpaid principal balance of $38.55 billion.
Guild, which provided the details and more as part of the Mortgage Daily Fourth Quarter 2017 Mortgage Origination Survey, increased its servicing portfolio from 182,560 loans for $36.540 billion as of Sept. 30.
A substantial increase was also made from year-end 2016, when 155,129 loans were serviced for $29.989 billion.
Guild reported that it originated 17,562 loans for $4.162 billion during the final-three months of last year. Business subsided from 18,797 loans closed for $4.398 billion in the third-quarter 2017 and 19,106 loans for $4.353 billion in the fourth-quarter 2016.
Fourth-quarter 2017 business included $3.939 billion in retail lending and $0.223 billion in correspondent acquisitions. Both channels were down from three months earlier.
From Jan. 1, 2017, through the end of last year, Guild’s loan production amounted to 68,265 loans for $15.829 billion.
Annual business was barely changed compared to 69,586 loans originated for $15.834 billion during 2016.
Loans to finance a home purchase accounted for $12.7 billion of last year’s volume, an all-time record, according to a news release.
The Southeast saw the biggest rise for Guild, where production jumped 26 percent from 2016 to $1.3 billion.
Guild Mortgage President and Chief Executive Officer Mary Ann McGarry predicted in the statement that growth is expected this year — especially in the Midwest as a result of its planned acquisition of Cornerstone Mortgage Inc., which was announced in January. She said St. Louis-based Cornerstone generated $1 billion in mortgage originations last year through its network of 19 offices in three states.
At 3,997 employees, staffing was up by 60 people from the end of September 2017 and 391 from the end of 2016.
The Cornerstone acquisition will add another 200 employees to Guild’s headcount.
