A small portfolio of mortgage servicing rights on agency residential loans has been acquired by a small bank out of the South.
The acquisition involves MSRs on 452 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac home loans with an aggregate principal balance of $85 million.
Properties that secure the mortgages are all located in North Carolina, and all of the loans have been described as “high quality”
The buyer in the transaction is First South Bank, an announcement Monday said.
The Washington, North Carolina, bank said that the deal, which is
subject to customary approval from the two investor agencies, will bring its third-party servicing portfolio to $377 million.
First South-parent First South Bancorp Inc. reported last week that
its total assets finished the second quarter at $961 million and included $73 million in mortgages.
“Adding this servicing portfolio to our existing book of business allows us to increase our level of non-interest income while improving our operating efficiency as we leverage the bank’s resources,” Bruce Elder, president and chief executive officer of the 114-year-old bank, said in the announcement. “This transaction also gives us the opportunity to introduce our ‘You First’ banking principles to these new customers.”
