Servicing sales’ worst enemy: declining interest rates. Bulk transactions are weak while flow deals hold steady.

HMDA data show that minorities face notably higher denial rates than white borrowers, and more so if the mortgage is underwritten manually. (Includes data chart.)

California accounted for most of the overall market decline in agency business during the second quarter, although FHA lending was up in the state. (Includes data chart.)

The regulator released additional data collected from the survey of 5% of new mortgage borrowers each quarter. The data covers originations through the third quarter of 2020.

New loan production in bank mortgage banking operations was down slightly in the first quarter. Loan sales also slumped. (Includes two data charts.)

Most of the big banks -- even Bank of America -- reported hefty gains in mortgage banking income during the first quarter that appear largely driven by net servicing fees. (Includes data chart.)

Most of the industry's big increase in first-quarter repurchases came from USAA Federal Savings Bank. (Includes data chart.)

Although seller buybacks from Fannie/Freddie MBS trusts rose sharply in the first quarter, they still account for a miniscule share of total GSE business.

While correspondent sales volume increased on an annual basis in 2020, two of the top five sellers posted diminished sales. Guaranteed Rate and loanDepot are less reliant on correspondent sales than the other top sellers. (Includes data chart.)

A group of 21 banks reported a combined $3.75 billion in mortgage banking income for the first quarter of 2021. While that was a modest 1.7% gain from the fourth quarter, it represented a huge 63.3% gain from the first three months of last year. (Includes data chart.)