Home lending picked up at PennyMac Financial Services Inc., and the momentum appears to have carried into the second quarter.
For the first three months of this year, PennyMac’s mortgage originations were $8.893 billion.
Production data, as well as other financial and operational metrics, were presented in the
Moorpark, California-based company’s first quarter earnings report.
Volume improved from the fourth quarter of last year, a period that saw $7.958 billion in home lending activity.
Business also accelerated from the first quarter of last year, when originations totaled $5.147 billion.
First-quarter 2015 production included $7.996 billion in correspondent acquisitions. PennyMac generated the business from 356 correspondent sellers.
Also part of the latest quarter’s production were
$0.897 billion in consumer direct originations.
Although conventional and government originations moved higher, jumbo activity slowed.
Lock volume ascended to $11.296 billion during the latest period from $8.924 billion in the fourth-quarter 2014.
In addition to
completing the sale of mortgage servicing rights on $15 billion in agency mortgages, PennyMac said it reached a letter of intent to acquire MSRs on $9 billion in Ginnie Mae loans.
PennyMac finished the first quarter with a $71.986 billion
mortgage servicing portfolio, up from $64.691 billion at the end of 2014. As of the same date in 2014, the portfolio was just $50.110 billion.
Another $41.542 billion in loans were sub-serviced as of March 31, 2015.
“The opportunity in mortgage production is substantial, driven by continued low mortgage rates, the FHA’s reduction of its mortgage insurance premium, and limited origination capacity in the market,” PennyMac Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Stanford L. Kurland stated in the report. “While this opportunity also results in higher prepayment activity, which negatively impacted our loan servicing segment during this quarter, we believe that PennyMac Financial is well positioned for continued success in this vibrant market.”
