The rapid increase in interest rates seen in the first quarter took a big bite out of income from production and helped to goose servicing earnings. And while a downturn in originations was expected this year, it could be worse than expected.

Usage of Freddie Mac’s Loan Prospector is largely confined to mortgages that will be delivered to the GSEs while usage of Fannie Mae’s Desktop Underwriter is more widespread in the mortgage market.

As retail and correspondent loan sales to the agencies fell by 20%, lenders became visibly less discerning about credit quality, with credit scores dropping and DTI/LTV ratios rising. (Includes two data charts.)

Rising interest rates helped to push up income tied to mortgage servicing rights more than they reduced income from originations among a group of publicly-traded nonbanks. Results varied to some extent, with one large mortgage company even taking a loss in the quarter. (Includes data chart.)

Delinquency rates declined across the board at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae in the first quarter of 2022. The only category of loans to report higher defaults was FHA loans 120 days past due. (Includes data chart.)

Some $920.73 billion of mortgages originated during 2021 were sold to unaffiliated non-agency buyers during the year, a 19.6% increase compared with 2020. Guaranteed Rate was the top correspondent seller. (Includes data chart.)

Private mortgage insurers gained share in the primary MI market in the first quarter of 2022, helped by purchase-mortgage activity. VA loans accounted for the majority of refis with primary MI during the period. (Includes two data charts.)

With interest rates starting to rise, production income took a hit in the fourth quarter of 2021. While servicing income increased, the mortgage business was less profitable. (Includes data chart.)

Banks and thrifts reported a 10.6% sequential increase in the volume of mortgages they repurchased in the fourth quarter of 2021. But for the full year, buybacks trended down. (Includes data chart.)

While servicing for others among banks declined slightly in the fourth quarter, trends varied among the big boys. Top-ranked Wells continued to reduce its portfolio while second-ranked JPM was an active buyer of MSRs. (Includes data chart.)